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THE  AGE  OF 
MENTAL  VIRILITY 


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THE  AGE  OP 
MENTAL  VIRILITY 


AN  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  RECORDS 
OF  ACHIEVEMENT  OF  THE  WORLd's 
CHIEF     WORKERS     AND     THINKERS 


BY 

W.  A.  NEWMAN  BORLAND 


What  then  I     Shall  we  sit  idly  down  and  say 
The  night  hath  come ;  it  is  no  longer  day  f 
The  night  hath  not  yet  come  :  we  are  not  quite 
Cut  off  from  labor  by  the  failing  light ; 
Something  remains  for  us  to  do  or  dare, 
Even  the  oldest  trees  some  fruit  may  bear. 
For  age  is  opportunity  no  less 
Than  youth  itself,  though  in  another  dress  ; 
And  as  the  evening  twilight  fades  away 
The  sky  is  filled  with  stars,  invisible  by  day. 

— Henry  IV.  Longfellow 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CENTURY  CO. 

1908 

ABE.  L.  WOLBARST,  M.  D. 
105  Eait  loth  Street,  N.  y. 


Copyright,  1908,  by 
The  Century  Co. 


Published  September,  1908 


THE  bE  VINNE  PRE86 


TO  THE 

MATURE  GENIUS 

WHICH  HAS  REVOLUTIONIZED 

THE  WORLD 


A3E.L.W0LBAEST,M.D. 
105  Ea«t  I9lii  Street,  %  X- 

CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  The   World's  Chief   Workers   and 

Thinkers 3 

II  The  Period  of  Mental  Activity      .     23 

III  Unusual   Mental   Activity    in   the 

Young       .      . 39 

IV  The  Acme  and  Duration  of  Mental 

Activity 62 

V  What     the     World     Might     have 

Missed 86 

VI  Genius  and  Insanity 154 

vii  The  Brain  of  Genius 190 

Tables 212 


THE  AGE  OF 
MENTAL  VIRILITY 


THE  AGE  OF 
MENTAL  VIRILITY 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  WORLD'S  CHIEF  WORKERS 
AND  THINKERS 

IT  is  now  over  three  years  since  the  in- 
vestigation which  has  culminated  in 
the  developments  here  recorded  was  mi- 
dertaken.  It  began  in  this  wise.  In 
conversation  with  Dr.  Harris  A.  Slocum 
of  Philadelphia  on  the  tendency — visi- 
bly increasing  in  this  country — of  rele- 
gating the  older  and  middle-aged  men  to 
the  oblivion  of  an  "innocuous  desuetude" 
in  order  that  the  more  progressive  and 
aggressive  young  men  might  be  given  a 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

clear  track  in  the  rush  to  the  front,  the 
question  suggested  itself  to  the  writer: 
What  has  been  the  age  of  the  acme  of 
mental  activity  as  shown  by  the  records 
of  the  famous  men  of  modern  times  ? 

It  was  evident  that  in  order  to  arrive 
at  any  satisfactory  conclusion  the  scope 
of  the  investigation  should  be  compre- 
hensive, since  it  was  fully  appreciated 
that  a  limited  study  could  readily  be  so 
distorted  as  to  prove  anything  the  inves- 
tigator might  prefer.  Two  elements  in 
the  investigation  were,  therefore,  recog- 
nized at  the  very  start  to  be  most  essen- 
tial; namely,  a  comprehensive  view  and 
a  receptive  mind,  which  would  not  pre- 
conclude  and  then  institute  a  process 
that  would  demonstrate  the  accuracy  of 
the  conclusion.  The  study  has  been,  ac- 
cordingly, one  primarily  designed  for 
the  writer's  own  information,  based  upon 
4 


THE  WORLD'S  CHIEF  WORKERS 

the  following  problem:  At  what  period 
of  their  lives  did  men  of  distinction  do 
their  best  work,  and  when  were  the 
magna  opera  accomplished? 

Four  hundred  records  of  men  famous 
in  all  lines  of  intellectual  activity  were 
most  carefully  compiled  and  analyzed. 
It  was  soon  found  that  these  records 
could  conveniently  be  grouped  into  two 
classes  more  or  less  distinct,  though  not 
showing  a  clearly  defined  line  of  de- 
marcation. These  groups  were,  con- 
cisely, the  workers  and  the  thinkers.  A 
word  of  explanation  is  necessary. 

While  it  is  true  that  all  men  whose 
records  were  included  in  the  study  are 
embraced  in  the  broader  signification  of 
the  thinking  class,  in  a  more  restricted 
sense  a  division  can  be  made.  Thus, 
among  the  "thinkers"  might  be  grouped 
all  those  whose  intellectual  activities 
5 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

manifested  themselves  in  processes  of 
ratiocination,  with  the  object  in  view  of 
arriving  at  abstractions  or  metaphysical 
concepts  or  of  drawing  positive  deduc- 
tions from  a  careful  analytical  study  of 
large  numbers  of  correlated  facts.  This 
class  could  perhaps  be  best  typified  by 
the  philosophers  or  by  the  natural  scien- 
tists. By  the  "workers"  in  this  re- 
stricted meaning  is  meant  that  group  of 
men  whose  intellectual  activities  culmi- 
nated in  some  practical  and  visible  ap- 
plication of  their  lines  of  thought ;  these 
could  best  be  represented  by  inventors 
or  by  the  warriors  of  the  world. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  thinkers, 
pure  and  simple,  must  vastly  outnumber 
those  who  have  the  ingenuity  or  who  en- 
joy the  opportunity  of  practically  dem- 
onstrating their  lines  of  thought.  In  a 
group  of  the  "workers"  would  be  found 
6 


THE  WORLD'S  CHIEF  WORKERS 

actors,  artists,  chemists,  and  physicists, 
explorers,  inventors,  musical  composers, 
physicians,  surgeons,  and  warriors.  A 
grouping  of  the  "thinkers"  would  in- 
clude astronomers  and  mathematicians, 
divines  and  reformers,  dramatists  and 
playwrights,  essayists,  historians,  jurists, 
naturalists,  novelists,  philosophers,  polit- 
ical economists,  poets,  satirists,  humor- 
ists, and  statesmen. 

Merely  to  enimierate  the  names  of 
these  distinguished  men  of  other  days 
becomes  an  inspiration.  Involuntarily 
we  doff  our  hats,  and  with  reverent 
mien  note  the  procession  as  it  passes 
before  us : 

First   the   statesmen :   Talleyrand,   Lincoln, 
Washington,  and  Daniel  Webster. 

Machiavelli,  founder  of  one  of  the  schools  of 
modern  diplomacy. 

The  immortal  bard  of  Avon. 

7 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

Robert  Burns  and  Lord  Byron. 

Erasmus,  the  philosophical  reformer. 

Savonarola,  the  Florentine  reformer  and 
statesman. 

The  satirists :  Sterne,  Rabelais,  and  Cervantes. 

Samuel  Johnson,  the  lexicographer. 

Sir  Isaac  Newton,  the  greatest  of  natural 
philosophers. 

The  novelists :  Balzac,  Hawthorne,  Trollope, 
and  Verne. 

The  statesmen :  Crispi  and  Garibaldi. 

Jean  Paul  Richter,  greatest  of  German 
humorists. 

Poe,  the  mystic  and  poet. 

Arago,  the  celebrated  astronomer  and  physi- 
cist. 

John  Napier,  the  inventor  of  logarithms. 

The  naturalists :  Leidy,  Agassiz,  Buff  on,  and 
Cope. 

Charles  Darwin,  the  eminent  naturalist  and 
originatot  of  the  modem  theory  of  evolu- 
tion. 

Le  Sage,  the  dramatist  and  novelist,  author 
of  "Gil  Bias." 

Bohme,  the  father  of  German  philosophy. 

The    distinguished    American    divines:    Tal- 

8 


THE  WORLD'S  CHIEF  WORKERS 

mage,   Jonathan   Edwards,   Henry   Ward 

Beecher,  and  Phillips  Brooks. 
Renan,  the  philologist  and  historian. 
Blackstone,  chief  of  jurists. 
The  novelists:   Cooper,   Charles  Lover,   and 

Thackeray. 
Leibnitz,  the  philosopher  and  mathematician. 
The  great   tragedians:  Macready,  Barrett, 

Booth,  and  Irving. 
Michelangelo,  the  greatest  of  known  artists. 
The  chemists:  Priestley,  Scheele,  Lavoisier, 

and  Liebig. 
Sir  Richard  Burton,  explorer  and  translator 

of  the  "Arabian  Nights." 
Morse,  the  inventor  of  the  telegraphic  alpha- 
bet. 
The  poets :  Wordsworth,  Southey,  and  Keats. 
George    Fox,    founder    of    the    Society    of 

Friends. 
Count  Cavour,  regenerator  of  Italy  and  one 

of  the  greatest  of  modern  statesmen. 
Dion  Boucicault,  the  playwright. 
The    essayists:    Addison    and    Sir    Richard 

Steele,  of  "Tatler"  and  "Spectator"  fame. 
Sue,  the  novelist,  whose  "Wandering  Jew"  is 

a  marvel  of  fiction. 

9 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

Walt  Whitman,  the  "good,  gray  poet." 

Francis  Parkman,  the  dauntless,  whose  histo- 
ries were  written  under  almost  insupejrable 
difficulties. 

Rousseau,  the  eminent  philosopher  and  essay- 
ist. 

The  historians:  Freeman,  Froude,  Bancroft, 
and  Hallam. 

Audubon,  the  ornithologist. 

Theophile  Gautier,  the  essayist  and  novelist. 

The  Grimm  brothers,  authors  of  the  popular 
German  fairy  tales ;  the  beloved  Hans 
Christian  Andersen,  the  great  Danish 
story-teller. 

Savigny,  the  founder  of  modern  jurispru- 
dence. 

Samuel  Pepys,  without  whose  "Diary"  the 
history  of  the  court  of  Charles  II  could 
not  have  been  written. 

The  weighty  philosophers:  Bacon,  Lotze, 
Kant,  Spencer,  and  Schopenhauer. 

Turgot,  the  pohtical  economist,  who  has  been 
pronounced  one  of  the  most  massive  and 
imposing  figures  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury; Adam  Smith,  greatest  of  political 
economists. 

10 


THE  WORLD'S   CHIEF  WORKERS 

The  poets:  Longfellow,  Tennyson,  Milton, 
and  Whittier. 

The  reformers:  Huss,  Wyclif,  Zwingli,  and 
Knox. 

The  immortal  Samuel  Butler. 

Bismarck,  the  "man  of  blood  and  iron"  of 
Germany;  the  eloquent  American  states- 
men, Patrick  Henry,  John  Jay,  Albert 
Gallatin,  John  Hancock,  and  Richard 
Henry  Lee;  Thomas  Jefferson,  father  of 
American  democracy. 

The  masters  of  painting:  Correggio,  del 
Sarto,  Perugino,  Rubens,  Raphael,  and 
Murillo ;  the  pictorial  satirists :  Cruikshank 
and  Hogarth. 

The  tragedians :  Garrick,  Forrest,  and  Kem- 
ble. 

Thomas  Chatterton,  the  unfortunate  boy- 
poet. 

Petrarch,  founder  of  humanism  and  the  in- 
augurator  of  the  renaissance  in  Italy. 

George  Whitefield,  one  of  the  most  elegant 
of  pulpit  orators. 

Corneille,  one  of  the  greatest  tragic  poets  of 
France,  and  Moliere  and  Racine,  French 
dramatists. 

11 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

Ibsen,  the  "grand  old  man"  of  Norway. 

John  Ruskin,  the  eminent  art  critic. 

The  essayists :  La  Rochefoucauld,  Montaigne, 
and  Emerson ;  the  genial  George  William 
Curtis,  essayist  and  journalist;  Thomas 
De  Quincey,  the  English  purist  and  essay- 
ist ;  Matthew  Arnold,  the  ethical  poet  and 
essayist. 

Washington  Irving,  novelist  and  historian. 

Henry  Alford,  Dean  of  Canterbury. 

Cardinals  Newman,  Richelieu,  Wolsey,  and 
Mazarin,  divines,  essayists,  and  statesmen. 

The  Hungarian  statesman  and  patriot,  Kos- 
suth. 

Marat,  Mirabeau,  Danton,  and  Robespierre 
of  the  French  "Terror." 

Robert  Morris,  financier  of  the  American 
Revolution. 

The  masters:  Titian,  Paul  Veronese,  Leo- 
nardo da  Vinci,  and  Vandyke;  Millet,  the 
painter  of  peasant  life. 

Christopher  Columbus,  chief  of  explorers; 
the  African  explorers,  Du  Chaillu,  Speke, 
Livingstone,  Stanley,  and  Mungo  Park. 

The  great  musical  composers:  Bach,  Verdi, 
Weber,  and  Richard  Wagner. 


THE  WORLD'S  CHIEF  WORKERS 

The  physicists :  Dalton,  Boyle,  and  Faraday. 

Galvani,  the  physiologist. 

The  naval  heroes :  John  Paul  Jones  and  Lord 
Nelson. 

The  Duke  of  Marlborough,  victor  of  Blen- 
heim, and  Lord  Clive,  founder  of  the  em- 
pire of  British  India. 

The  poets :  Keble,  Shelley,  Cowper,  Chaucer, 
and  Spenser;  Isaac  Watts,  the  hymn- 
writer. 

Sir  Robert  Peel,  premier  of  England  and 
organizer  of  the  modern  police  system. 

Fenelon,  Archbishop  of  Cambrai. 

James  Rennell,  most  celebrated  of  English 
geographers,  and  Karl  Ritter,  probably 
the  greatest  geographer  of  modern  times. 

Beethoven,  Mendelssohn,  Mozart,  Meyerbeer, 
Chopin,  and  Liszt,  most  eminent  of  com- 
posers. 

Jenner,  discoverer  of  vaccination,  and  Har- 
vey, discoverer  of  the  'circulation  of  the 
blood. 

The  famous  American  statesmen:  John  C. 
Calhoun,  John  Adams,  Henry  Clay,  and 
Stephen  A.  Douglas. 

Gladstone,  England's  "grand  old  man";  the 
13 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

premiers,  George  Canning,  John  Bright, 
William  Pitt,  and  Sir  Robert  Walpole ;  the 
Earl  of  Beaconsfield,  novelist  and  premier 
of  England. 

Schiller,  dramatist  and  poet. 

Rembrandt,  the  famous  Dutch  painter, 
known  as  the  "Shakspere  of  Holland." 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  explorer,  historian,  and 
courtier. 

The  great  generals:  Sheridan,  Sherman, 
Grant,  and  Robert  E.  Lee. 

Gay-Lussac,  the  physicist. 

The  novelists:  Dickens,  Hugo,  Bulwer  Lyt- 
ton,  Wilkie  Collins,  Blackmore,  and  Cha- 
teaubriand ;  Scott,  the  poet  and  novelist. 

The  astronomers:  Galileo,  Copernicus, 
Herschel,  Kepler,  and  Biot. 

Dwight  L.  Moody,  the  evangehst  and  founder 
of  Northfield  Seminary. 

Horace  Greeley,  the  American  editor  and 
journalist,  founder  of  the  New  York 
"Tribune." 

The  essayists :  Charles  Lamb,  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes,  Carlyle,  Leigh  Hunt,  and  James 
Russell  Lowell. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte,  conqueror  of  Europe; 
14 


THE  WORLD'S  CHIEF  WORKERS 

Oliver  Cromwell,  Lord  Protector  of  the 

British  Commonwealth. 
Littre,  compiler  of  the  best  dictionary  of  any 

living  language. 
The     naturalists:     GeofFroy     Saint-Hilaire, 

Huxley,  Lacepede,  Lamarck,  and  Baron 

Cuvier. 
John   Bunyan,   the  most   popular   religious 

writer  in  the  English  language. 
Dean   Stanley,   the  beloved  prelate;   Canon 

Farrar,  Dean  of  Canterbury. 
Voltaire,  the  prince  of  deists  and  briUiant 

essayist. 
August  Bockh,  one  of  the  greatest  scholars 

that   Germany   has   produced   in   modern 

times. 
The  philosophers :  Hobbes,  Comte,  Descartes, 

Schelling,  Spinoza,  Condillac,  Condorcet, 

and  Diderot. 
General  Lew  Wallace,  soldier,  statesman,  and 

novelist. 
Saint-Simon,  founder  of  French  socialism. 
Von  Baer,  founder  of  the  science  of  compara- 
tive embryology. 
Georg  Ebers,  the  orientalist  and  novelist ;  Du 

Maurier,  the  artist-novelist. 
15 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

Tyndall,  the  philosopher  and  physicist. 

The  mathematicians:  Euler,  Lagrange,  and 
D'Alembert. 

Turner,  the  most  celebrated  landscape-painter 
of  the  English  school. 

Alexander  Hamilton,  the  brilliant  and  la- 
mented American  statesman;  Gambetta, 
silver-tongued  orator  of  France ;  Baron 
von  Bunsen,  the  German  scholar  and  diplo- 
matist. 

Prescott,  the  eminent  American  historian. 

Robert  Burton,  author  of  the  "Anatomy  of 
Melancholy." 

Thomas  Arnold,  famous  head-master  of 
Rugby. 

The  playwrights:  Ben  Jonson,  Douglas  Jer- 
rold,  and  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan. 

Grote  and  Hume,  philosophical  historians ; 
Mommsen,  the  venerable  German  historian. 

The  famous  American  statesmen:  Blaine, 
John  Hay,  and  James  Monroe. 

Benjamin  Franklin,  the  many-sided  man,  sci- 
entist, statesman,  philosopher,  diplomatist, 
patriot. 

William  Penn,  the  Quaker  essayist  and 
founder  of  Pennsylvania. 

16 


THE  WORLD'S  CHIEF  WORKERS 

The  composers :  Haydn,  Handel,  Schumann, 
Schubert,  Gluck,  and  Gounod. 

Schliemann,  the  archaeologist. 

James  Watt,  inventor  of  the  modern  condens- 
ing steam-engine. 

Rudolf  Virchow,  pathologist,  and  exponent 
of  the  democracy  of  learning. 

The  Duke  of  Wellington,  victor  of  Waterloo. 

Sir  Astley  Cooper,  the  great  London  sur- 
geon. 

Sir  Humphry  Davy,  the  natural  philosopher, 
and  inventor  of  the  miners'  safety-lamp. 

The  poets :  Dante,  Goethe,  Robert  Browning, 
Heine,  De  Musset,  and  Thomas  Moore; 
Owen  Meredith,  the  poet-statesman. 

Thomas  Cranmer,  first  Protestant  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury;  Loyola,  founder  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus. 

Guizot,  the  venerable  historian  and  states- 
man ;  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  the  great 
antislavery  agitator. 

Thiers,  President  of  the  French  Republic  and 
"liberator  of  the  territory." 

Dore,  prince  of  illustrators. 

Sir  John  Franklin  and  Dr.  Kane,  Arctic  ex- 
plorers. 

2  lY 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

The  tragedian :  Edmund  Kean, 

Benjamin  Rush,  the  great  American  physi- 
cian and  statesman. 

Bessemer,  inventor  of  the  pneumatic  process 
in  the  manufacture  of  steel. 

Sir  Christopher  Wren,  the  architect  of  St. 
Paul's ;  Rossetti,  the  poet-painter ;  Albrecht 
Diirer,  best  known  by  his  engravings  on 
copper. 

Joseph  Jefferson,  most  famous  of  American 
comedians. 

The  musical  composers :  Brahms,  Spohr,  Ros- 
sini, and  Johann  Strauss. 

The  generals:  Von  Moltke  and  Sii  Charles 
Napier. 

Holderlin,  the  exquisite  German  poet ;  Beran- 
ger,  the  beloved  French  song-writer. 

Christopher  Marlowe,  the  father  of  English 
tragedy  and  the  creator  of  English  blank 
verse. 

Emanuel  Swedenborg,  the  profound  dreamer 
of  Sweden. 

Dean  Swift,  author  of  the  famous  "Gulliver's 
Travels." 

The  statesmen :  Charles  James  Fox,  Boling- 
broke,  and  Warren  Hastings. 
18 


THE  WORLD'S   CHIEF  WORKERS 

William  Laud,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
and  the  upholder  of  church  authority  in 
the  time  of  Charles  I. 

La  Fontaine,  the  fabulist. 

The  inseparable  Beaumont  and  Fletcher; 
Thomas  Hood,  the  poet  and  humorist. 

Lyell  and  Hugh  Miller,  the  geologists. 

Lavater,  the  great  physiognomist. 

The  historians :  Von  Ranke,  Gibbon,  Motley, 
Michelet,  Dean  Milman  and  Niebuhr. 

Max  Miiller,  the  eminent  philologist. 

The  essayists :  J.  G.  Holland,  Nathaniel  Par- 
ker Willis,  James  Kirke  Paulding,  Isaac 
D'Israeli,  and  Baron  Friedrich  von  Grimm. 

The  painters :  Botticelli  and  Constable. 

John  Hunter,  the  great  English  physician. 

Corot,  the  famous  landscape-painter,  and 
"lyric  poet  of  the  Barbizon  school,"  whose 
works  have  well  been  described  as  "painted 
music." 

George  Stephenson,  the  "father  of  railways." 

The  astronomers :  Laplace  and  Leverrier. 

Thomas  Chalmers,  the  doughty  Scottish 
clergyman. 

The  gifted  Lamartine,  poet,  statesman,  and 
historian. 

19 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

Lessing,  the  dramatist  and  essayist. 

James  Boswell,  the  follower  of  Johnson. 

The  lamented  De  Maupassant,  the  most  per- 
fect master  of  the  short  story. 

The  novelists:  Daudet,  Henry  Fielding, 
Samuel  Warren,  Charles  Lever,  Charles 
Reade,  Kingsley,  and  Dumas  p^re;  Bret 
Harte,  the  humorous  poet  and  novelist. 

The  philosophers:  Locke,  Hegel,  Berkeley, 
Fichte,  and  John  Stuart  Mill. 

Boerhaave,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  physi- 
cians of  modem  times. 

The  explorers :  La  Salle  and  Champlain. 

Zola,  the  novelist  and  defender  of  Dreyfus. 

The  painters:  Bouguereau,  Re3niolds,  West, 
Landseer,  Gainsborough,  and  Blake. 

The  poets:  Coleridge,  Dryden,  Goldsmith, 
Lanier,  and  Gray. 

The  reformers :  Calvin,  Luther,  and  Melanch- 
thon. 

Burke,  Sir  Thomas  More,  and  Lord  Palmer- 
ston,  able  statesmen  of  England. 

George  Romney,  historical  and  portrait 
painter. 

The  immortal  Daniel  Defoe  of  "Robinson 
Crusoe"  fame. 

20 


THE  WORLD'S  CHIEF  WORKERS 

The  beloved  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  poet, 
novelist,  and  optimist. 

Baron  Humboldt,  the  traveler  and  naturalist ; 
Linnaeus,  the  botanist. 

Pasteur,  the  chemist  and  biologist,  and  dis- 
coverer of  the  cure  for  hydrophobia. 

The  learned  and  gifted  Walter  Savage  Lan- 
dor. 

The  poets :  Young,  Pope,  PoUok,  and  Thom- 
son. 

Samuel  Richardson,  inventor  of  the  modem 
novel  of  domestic  life  and  manners ;  Dodg- 
son  (Lewis  Carroll),  mathematician  and 
winsome  story-teller,  whose  nonsensical 
**Alice  in  Wonderland"  has  fascinated  both 
old  and  young. 

The  divines :  Sydney  Smith  and  Spurgeon. 

Lord  Macaulay,  historian,  poet,  and  essayist. 

Velasquez,  head  of  the  Spanish  school  of 
painting. 

Sir  Edwin  Arnold,  the  poet  and  eminent 
Japanese  scholar. 

William  CuUen  Bryant,  the  distinguished 
American  poet  and  journalist. 

Montesquieu,  philosophical  historian. 

John  Wesley,  founder  of  Methodism. 
21 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

Tintoretto,  one  of  the  greatest  painters  of 
the  Venetian  school;  Meissonier,  the  mili- 
tary and  genre  painter  of  France. 

Charles  Augustin  Sainte-Beuve,  the  most 
notable  critic  of  our  time. 

Here  is  a  magnificent  array  of  genius 
and  mentality  having  stupendous  cere- 
brational  power,  whose  influence  upon 
the  thinking  world  has  been  inestimable. 
The  lives  of  such  men,  reduced  to  sta- 
tistical records,  will  bear  a  close  exam- 
ination, and  the  resulting  deductions 
will  incontrovertibly  carry  with  them  a 
certain  intrinsic  value. 


22 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  PERIOD  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

THE  period  of  a  man's  life  during 
which  his  mind  asserts  its  sway  and 
he  determines  his  usefulness  to  his  fel- 
low-men, the  period  in  which  he  becomes 
a  producer  and  not  merely  a  consumer, 
varies  largely,  according  to  the  tempera- 
ment, physical  constitution,  and  mental 
inclination  of  the  individual.  Some 
realize  much  sooner  than  others  the  ob- 
ject of  living.  In  many  the  inspiration 
of  genius  breaks  through  the  shell  at  a 
very  tender  age,  as  is  the  case  of  the 
prodigies  of  the  world  in  music,  art,  and 
poetry,  who  astonish  mankind  by  evi- 
dences of  mental  virility  that  are  vastly 
in  advance  of  their  years.  In  others  the 
23 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

process  of  mental  development  is  slow 
or  even  retarded,  while  a  sound  physical 
basis  is  forming.  This  was  true  of  many 
of  the  men  who  late  in  life  became  the 
profound  thinkers  and  astute  statesmen 
and  diplomatists.  In  the  light  of  ad- 
vanced medical  education,  and  according 
to  the  teaching  of  modern  physiologists 
and  neurologists,  the  latter  method  of 
growth  would  appear  the  more  desira- 
ble, though  not  so  brilliant  and  fasci- 
nating when  examined  in  the  limelight 
of  public  criticism.  The  world  goes 
wild  over  a  youthful  wonder  of  men- 
tality, but  ignores  the  plodding  genius 
who  is  compelled  by  sheer  force  of  his 
matured  mentality  to  command  late  in 
life  the  plaudits  of  his  fellows.  They 
both  serve  their  time  and  generation: 
the  genius  of  inspiration  and  emotion, 
and  the  genius  of  untiring  effort.    Both 


THE  PERIOD  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

have  their  place  in  the  evolution  of  the 
race>  and  both  bring  material  contribu- 
tions to  the  world's  accumulation  of 
accomplishment. 

In  an  investigation  like  that  now  on 
hand  three  questions  arise  at  the  outset, 
and  these  comprise  the  entire  scope  of 
the  period  of  mental  activity:  At  what 
age  did  a  given  individual  begin  to  show 
evidences  of  mental  activity  along  lines 
of  original  research?  when  did  he  ac- 
complish the  greatest  work  of  his  life? 
and  how  long  did  his  mind  continue  to 
functionate  and  produce  in  the  chosen 
sphere  of  activity?  Advancing  from  the 
individual  to  the  various  groups  in  the 
special  lines  of  work,  we  next  must  as- 
certain the  average  ages  for  these  groups 
and  the  total  average  age  for  all  the  indi- 
viduals studied  at  these  three  periods  of 
their  lives. 

25 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 


THE  INITIAL  AGE  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  interesting  and 
instructive  to  mark  the  beginning  age 
of  the  mental  activity  of  these  men.  By 
this  is  meant  the  age  at  which  the  man 
first  began  to  manifest  mental  activity 
in  the  line  or  lines  in  which  he  subse- 
quently became  famous.  Let  it  be  noted 
that  before  this  date  in  most  instances, 
but  not  invariably,  the  youths  proved 
unmistakably  that  their  mentality  was 
developing  in  an  unusual  degree,  and  in 
many  cases  this  activity  was  manifested 
at  peculiarly  precocious  periods. 

The  average  initial  age  of  the  400  rec- 
ords was  twenty-four.  It  is  suggestive 
that  the  workers  began  earlier  than  the 
thinkers, — at  twenty-two, — while  the 
thinkers'  average  stands  at  twenty-six. 
26 


THE  PERIOD  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

The  average,  likewise,  shows  striking 
variation  for  the  different  classes  or 
occupations.  Thus,  as  might  be  antici- 
pated from  the  remarkable  careers  of 
many  of  the  musical  composers,  these 
men  began  their  life-work  at  the  aver- 
age age  of  seventeen.  The  actors 
closely  follow  at  eighteen,  while  war- 
riors, artists,  divines,  and  jurists  show 
an  average  initial  age  of  twenty-two. 
Dramatists  and  playwrights  follow  at 
twenty -three,  and  poets,  physicians,  and 
surgeons,  inventors,  chemists,  and  phy- 
sicists, occupy  the  position  of  mental 
equiUbrium,  at  the  outset,  at  an  average 
age  of  twenty-four.  The  naturalists 
average  twenty-five;  explorers,  novel- 
ists, essayists,  historians,  astronomers, 
mathematicians,  and  statesmen  gener- 
ally began  to  develop  their  respective 
lines  of  thought  at  twenty-six;  the  phi- 
27 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

losophers  at  twenty-seven;  the  reform- 
ers at  twenty-eight;  and  the  satirists 
and  humorists  not  until  thirty-two  years 
of  age.  When  it  is  recalled  that  satire 
is  a  highly  speciahzed  literary  form, 
most  rare  and  difficult  of  attainment, 
this  late  primary  development  acquires 
a  peculiar  signification  in  a  study  of 
this  kind. 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  MIND 

These  interesting  and  suggestive  fig- 
ures seem  unmistakably  to  indicate  a 
sure  and  progressive  mental  evolution 
which  may  be  represented  somewhat, 
though  imperfectly,  in  the  following 
manner:  From  infancy  through  adoles- 
cence to  the  full  maturity  of  the  adult, 
the  emotional  side  of  the  individual  is 
at  its  highest.  Reaching  its  acme  at 
its 


THE  PERIOD  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

mg,turity,  it  then  begins  to  diminish  in 
intensity,  as  it  is  overtopped  by  the 
higher  mental  elements.  Thus,  musi- 
cians, who,  save  artists,  are  probably 
more  justly  entitled  to  the  appellation 
of  genius  than  any  other  class  of  men, 
do  much  of  their  best  work  at  a  re- 
markably tender  age.  The  imaginative, 
imitative,  rehgious,  adventurous,  and 
belligerent  elements  of  the  mind  are 
strongly  developed  in  these  plastic 
years.  It  becomes  evident,  therefore, 
that  actors  and  preachers,  explorers  and 
soldiers,  poets  and  dramatists,  all  sub- 
ject to  the  domination  of  the  emotions, 
do  excellent  and  masterful  work  in  the 
early  years  of  their  lives.  As  the  deeper 
and  more  rational  elements  of  cerebra- 
tion are  developed,  these  either  end  their 
life-work  altogether  or  modify  it  uncon- 
sciously to  meet  the  changed  mental 
S9 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

conditions.  Thus,  many  who  began  as 
poets  abandoned  that  esthetic  and  beau- 
tiful field  of  adventure  for  the  broader 
and  richer  scope  afforded  by  fiction  and 
other  prose  writing.  Many  of  the  sci- 
entists, philosophers,  and  statesmen 
showed  no  special  aptitude  until  the 
emotional  period  of  their  lives  had 
passed.  Epic  poets  and  musicians 
brought  the  experience  of  maturer  years 
to  act  upon  and  aid  the  imaginative  and 
emotional  brain-cells  of  their  younger 
days.  The  bitter  wrongs  and  injustices 
that  every  observant  life-time  entails 
dampen  the  ardor  of  youth,  and  the 
speculative  philosopher,  the  biting  and 
cynical  satirist,  or  the  more  kindly  dis- 
posed and  dry  humorist,  grows  into  be- 
ing. 

Thus,  just  as  surely  as  there  is  a  phy- 
sical and  natural  evolution  of  the  being 
30 


THE  PERIOD  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

and  of  the  race,  so  there  is  an  individual, 
a  tribal  or  national,  and  a  racial  evolu- 
tion of  the  mind.  Such  a  conclusion  is 
inevitably  forced  upon  us  by  a  study 
such  as  this.  He  was  a  deep  observer 
who  divided  a  man's  mental  working 
life  into  four  decades;  thus,  from  twenty 
to  thirty  bronze,  thirty  to  forty  silver, 
forty  to  fifty  gold,  and  from  fifty  to 
sixty  iron.  Intellect  and  judgment  are 
strongest  in  the  average  person  between 
forty  and  sixty.  It  was  Du  Maurier 
who  said:  "I  think  that  the  best  years  in 
a  man's  life  are  after  he  is  forty.  A 
man  at  forty  has  ceased  to  hunt  the 
moon."  Then,  as  an  afterthought,  he 
says:  "I  would  add  that  in  order  to  en- 
joy life  after  forty,  it  is  perhaps  neces- 
sary to  have  achieved,  before  reaching 
that  age,  at  least  some  success." 


SI 


THE  AGE  OP  MENTAL  VIRILITY 


IS  PRECOCITY  A  SIGN  OF  DEGENERACY? 

In  the  light  of  the  foregoing,  it  becomes 
evident  that  precocity  is  not  always  a 
thing  to  be  desired.  Indeed,  it  may, 
just  as  surely  as  a  prematurely  ripened 
fruit  indicates  decay  and  early  death, 
mean  an  early  degeneration  and  loss  of 
the  mental  faculties.  By  many  biolo- 
gists it  is  considered  an  expression  of 
premature  senility.  Few,  if  any,  of  the 
precocious  children  rise  above  the  aver- 
age in  adult  life,  and  the  tendency 
rather  is  to  fall  below  it.  The  explana- 
tion is  largely  to  be  found  in  the  fact 
that  during  these  tender  years  the  brain 
is  immature  both  in  substance  and  form, 
and  any  unusual  strain  placed  upon  the 
delicate  and  plastic  organ  must  be  at 
the  expense  of  its  ultimate  power. 
32 


THE  PERIOD  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

These  children  are  often  of  the  scrof- 
ulous diathesis,  and  present  certain 
well-known  physical  traits.  Their  com- 
plexion is  clear  and  at  times  beautifully 
fair,  the  eyes  blue  and  the  hair  golden. 
A  writer  in  one  of  the  scientific  papers 
speaks  of  their  mental  condition  in  this 
way:  "These  children  are  delicately 
sensitive  to  mental  impressions,  and 
alive  to  the  conversation  of  persons 
much  older  than  they."  The  unwonted 
brilliancy  continues  until  the  age  of 
puberty  when  the  children  begin  to  fail 
mentally  and  physically  and  frequently 
fall  victims  to  tuberculosis. 

As  Lombroso  has  indicated,  many  of 
the  men  of  genius  were  subjects  of  degen- 
eracy, and  this  statement  is  made  because 
of  the  well-known  stigmata  or  marks  of 
degeneracy  which  have  been  present  in 
them.    It  must  be  understood,  however, 

8  38 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

that  any  individual  of  great  mentality, 
as  well  as  those  of  mediocre  ability,  may 
present  one  or  two  degenerate  marks 
without  in  any  sense  proving,  for  his 
case,  the  presence  of  a  degenerate  mind. 
There  is  a  period  of  antenatal  growth 
known  to  scientists  as  the  senile  period, 
embracing  the  fourth  and  fifth  months 
of  prenatal  existence.  It  has  been  found 
that  a  slight  arrest  of  development  at 
this  period  is  characteristic  of  the  class 
of  beings  known  as  degenerates,  and 
precocity  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  ex- 
pressions of  this  developmental  defect. 
Relief  de  la  Bretonne,  who  composed  at 
fourteen  a  poem  on  his  first  twelve  loves, 
is  a  remarkable  instance  of  this  form  of 
degenerate  precocity.  "A  wit  of  five  is 
a  fool  of  twenty,"  is  an  adage  founded 
upon  the  popular  appreciation  of  this 
unpleasant  truth. 

34 


THE  PERIOD  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 


THE  MARKS  OR  STIGMATA  OF 
DEGENERACY 

There  are,  then,  certain  physical  pecul- 
iarities that  are  almost  invariably  pres- 
ent in  decadent  men  and  races.  Thus, 
while  the  hardy  people  of  the  North, 
whose  physical  star  may  be  regarded 
as  in  the  ascendency,  are  generally  tall 
and  athletic,  the  decadent  races,  includ- 
ing many  of  the  Latin  stock,  are  char- 
acterized by  shortness  of  stature  and 
stockiness  of  build.  Runts  these  people 
are,  and  this  general  undevelopment 
comprises  a  well-recognized  stigma  of 
degeneracy.  It  is  likewise  exceptional 
to  find  an  unusually  short  nose,  such  as 
that  possessed  by  Darwin  and  Socrates, 
among  men  of  intellect.  Nasal  abbre- 
viation is  one  of  the  well-known  signs 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

of  degeneracy,  as  is  also  the  sessile  or 
otherwise  misshapen  ear,  the  sugar-loaf 
skull,  the  close-set  eyes,  and  other  phy- 
siognomic irregularities,  including  the 
cretinoid  face.  The  latter,  strange  to 
relate,  has  been  noted  in  certain  men  of 
remarkable  genius,  including  Darwin 
and  Carlyle,  Rembrandt,  Pope,  and 
Socrates.  Other  physical  traits  char- 
acteristic of  individuals  of  degenerate 
taint  are  marked  emaciation,  facial 
pallor,  stuttering,  and  stammering,  in- 
fantile and  adolescent  sickliness,  left- 
handedness,  sterility,  and  certain  mental 
and  nervous  diseases,  more  particular 
mention  of  which  will  be  made  in  an- 
other chapter, 

I  wish  to  emphasize  at  this  point  the 
assertion  that  not  every  individual  who 
chances  to  possess  one  of  the  above  men- 
tioned physical  peculiarities  is  to  be  im- 
36 


THE  PERIOD  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

mediately  stamped  as  a  degenerate.  It 
is  only  when  there  is  a  combination  of 
two  or  more  of  these  traits,  especially 
if  this  combination  has  been  noted  as 
a  family  peculiarity,  that  the  suspicion 
will  be  awakened,  and  this  may  then  be 
confirmed  and  the  condition  established 
by  close  and  careful  investigation.  It 
is  probable  that  all  of  these  degenerate 
geniuses  manifested  unusual  mental  de- 
velopment in  early  childhood. 

Nevertheless,  it  stands  to  reason  that 
not  every  instance  of  unusual  childish 
brilliancy  is  dependent  upon  a  degen- 
erate state  of  mind.  There  is  a  pre- 
cocity due  to  parental  influence  and 
unconscious  infantile  imitation.  This 
we  may  designate  as  the  environmental 
precocity,  a  perfectly  normal  condition, 
but  one  which  involves  close  parental 
supervision  in  order  to  maintain  the 
37 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

mental  and  judicial  balance,  and  thereby 
avoid  a  brain-tire  with  serious  and  even 
permanent  intellectual  impairment. 

Properly  guided  and  fostered  through 
the  plastic  and  impressional  period  of 
tutelage,  these  young  men  will  be  di- 
rected into  the  channels  of  life-work  for 
which  they  are  best  designed.  They 
will  thereby  be  thoroughly  prepared  for 
the  true  period  of  productiveness  in  in- 
tellectual lines,  which  extends  not  infre- 
quently well  beyond  that  absurdity 
which  has  been  designated  as  the 
"dead-line  of  fifty."  It  will  not  be  in- 
appropriate at  this  point  to  call  atten- 
tion to  some  of  these  early  indications  of 
mental  activity  on  the  part  of  the  young 
not  subject  to  the  precocity  of  degen- 
eracy. 


38 


CHAPTER  III 

UNUSUAL  MENTAL  ACTIVITY  IN 
THE  YOUNG 

THE  astounding  array  of  facts  that 
have  been  grouped  together  has 
been  collected  from  literature  after  a 
most  thorough  search  and  investigation 
(wherever  this  was  found  to  be  possi- 
ble) as  to  the  authenticity  of  the  state- 
ments, and  they  are  presented  without 
other  words  of  explanation  or  apology. 


ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  THE  YOUNG   IN 
MUSIC 

As  has  already  been  intimated,  the  poets, 
musicians,  artists,  and  soldiers,  repre- 
senting the  true  geniuses  of  the  world, 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

and  those  in  whom  the  imaginative  and 
impulsive  elements  are  the  strongest, 
have  distinguished  themselves  early  in 
life.  This  is  eminently  true  of  the 
musicians,  whose  records  are,  in  this  re- 
spect, truly  marvelous.  Thus,  Mozart, 
when  only  three  years  of  age,  shared  the 
harpsichord  lessons  of  his  sister  Maria, 
who  was  eight  years  old.  At  four  he 
played  minuets  and  composed  little 
pieces.  He  performed  in  public  for  the 
first  time  when  five  years  old.  At  eight 
he  played  before  the  English  royalty, 
made  his  first  attempt  at  the  composi- 
tion of  a  symphony,  published  his  third 
set  of  sonatas,  and  wrote  "God  is  our 
Refuge,"  an  anthem  for  four  voices. 
At  ten  he  first  essayed  the  oratorio;  at 
eleven  he  composed  an  opera  bouffe, 
"La  Finta  Semplice" ;  at  fourteen,  com- 
posed the  music  for  the  opera,  "Mitri- 
40 


MENTAL  ACTIVITY  IN  THE  YOUNG 

date,  Re  di  Ponto" ;  at  fifteen  wrote  the 
serenata,  "Ascanio  in  Alba" ;  at  sixteen, 
the  operas,  "II  Sogno  di  Scipione"  and 
"Lucio  Silla,"  both  of  which  were  bril- 
liant successes;  and  at  nineteen,  the 
opera,  "La  Finta  Giardiniera." 

Meyerbeer  was  an  excellent  pianist  at 
five;  at  seven  played  Mozart's  concerto 
in  D  minor  in  public ;  at  ten  had  written 
an  opera,  "Jephthas  Geliibde,"  and  at 
thirteen  produced  his  second  opera, 
"Wirth  und  Gast."  At  six  Eichhorn 
and  Eybler  gave  public  concerts,  and 
Spohr  at  the  same  age  took  the  leading 
part  in  Kalkbrenner's  trios ;  at  nineteen 
he  printed  his  first  violin  concerto. 
Handel  showed  his  musical  talent  at  a 
very  early  age.  At  eight  his  playing  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  the  Duke  of 
Saxe-Weissenf els ;  in  his  twelfth  year 
he  made  his  debut  as  a  virtuoso  at  the 
41 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

court  of  Berlin ;  at  thirteen  he  composed 
a  mass;  at  seventeen  wrote  "Florinde" 
and  "Nero";  and  at  nineteen  was  a 
theater  director.  At  the  age  of  nine 
Liszt  displayed  great  musical  ability; 
in  his  eleventh  year  he  played  before 
enthusiastic  audiences  in  Vienna ;  and  at 
fourteen  he  wrote  the  operetta,  "Don 
Sancho." 

Mendelssohn  first  played  in  public  at 
nine,  and  at  eleven  he  began  to  compose 
with  astonishing  rapidity.  At  that  age 
he  wrote  his  cantata,  "In  riihrend  feier- 
lichen  Tonen,"  and  produced  nearly 
sixty  movements,  including  songs, 
pianoforte  sonatas,  a  trio  for  pianoforte, 
violin,  and  violoncello,  a  sonata  for 
violin  and  pianoforte,  pieces  for  the 
organ,  and  a  little  dramatic  piece  in 
three  scenes.  At  twelve  he  wrote  five 
symphonies  for  stringed  instruments, 
4^ 


MENTAL  ACTIVITY  IN  THE  YOUNG 

each  in  three  movements;  motets  for 
four  voices;  an  opera  in  one  act — "Sol- 
datenliebschaft" ;  another,  "Die  beiden 
Padagogen" ;  part  of  a  third,  "Die  wan- 
dernde  Comodianten" ;  and  an  immense 
quantity  of  other  music  of  various  kinds. 
At  thirteen  he  produced  an  opera  in 
three  acts — "Die  beiden  Neffen,  oder 
der  Onkel  aus  Boston";  a  pianoforte 
concerto;  and  an  immense  amount  of 
other  music.  At  fifteen  he  composed 
his  fine  symphony  in  C  minor,  a  quartet 
in  B  minor,  and  a  pianoforte  sestet.  At 
sixteen  he  wrote  a  "Kyrie"  for  five 
voices;  his  pianoforte  capriccio  in  F 
sharp  minor;  and  an  opera  in  two  acts, 
"Die  Hochzeit  des  Camacho,"  a  work 
of  considerable  importance.  Before  he 
was  eighteen  he  had  completed  his 
famous  overture  to  Shakspere's  "Mid- 
summer Night's  Dream."    Here  was  a 


,    THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

remarkable  instance  of  precocious  pro- 
ductiveness. 

Verdi,  when  only  ten,  was  appointed 
organist  at  Le  Roncole,  and  at  fifteen 
wrote  his  first  symphony.  Rossini  sang 
solos  in  church  at  ten;  at  thirteen  ap- 
peared in  the  opera  house  as  Adolfo  in 
Paer's  "Camilla,"  and  at  eighteen  pro- 
duced at  Venice  his  first  opera,  "La 
Cambiale  di  Matrimonio."  Weber  at 
twelve  published  a  set  of  "Six  Fugh- 
etti";  at  thirteen  wrote  "Variations  for 
the  Pianoforte"  and  an  opera,  "The 
Power  of  Love  and  Wine."  When  he 
was  fourteen,  his  opera,  "The  Wood- 
Maiden,"  was  publicly  presented ;  at  sev- 
enteen he  published  his  third  opera, 
"Peter  Schmoll  and  His  Neighbor"; 
and  at  eighteen  he  was  appointed  con- 
ductor of  opera  at  Breslau.  Cherubini 
awoke  popular  enthusiasm  with  a  mass 
44 


MENTAL  ACTIVITY  IN  THE  YOUNG 

at  thirteen.  Schubert  began  writing 
music  at  thirteen,  and  when  eighteen 
composed  two  symphonies,  five  operas, 
and  no  less  than  one  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  songs,  besides  a  multitude 
of  other  important  pieces. 

At  seventeen  Wagner  pubUshed  his 
first  important  composition, — the  over- 
ture in  B  flat,— and  at  twenty  his  first 
symphony  was  performed.  Brahms  at 
the  age  of  twenty  had  written  a  string 
quartet,  the  first  pianoforte  sonata,  the 
scherzo  in  E  flat  minor,  and  a  group  of 
songs,  including  the  dramatic  "Liebes- 
treu."  It  is  a  truth  pregnant  with  sug- 
gestion that  Beethoven,  that  prince  of 
musicians,  who  occupies  in  music  the 
place  held  by  Shakspere  in  poetry,  did 
not  compose  anything  entitled  to  men- 
tion until  after  he  had  reached  his 
twenty-fifth  birthday. 
45 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 


THE  MEN  OF  WAE 

The  bellicose  vein  of  youth  has  from 
time  immemorial  produced  many  of  the 
famous  fighters  of  the  world,  who  have 
turned  and  overturned  the  world,  and 
repeatedly  altered  its  geography.  The 
fighting  strain,  once  established,  is  hard 
to  overcome,  however,  and  though  the 
young  have  distinguished  themselves  in 
war,  as  will  be  seen  directly,  they  cannot 
usurp  to  themselves  all  the  trophies  of 
Mars.  Still,  their  record  of  achievement 
forms  no  mean  page  in  the  history  of  the 
world.  At  sixteen  Henry  IV  of  France 
was  at  the  head  of  the  Huguenot  army, 
at  nineteen  he  became  King  of  Navarre, 
and  before  the  age  of  forty-four  he  over- 
threw his  enemies  and  became  King  of 
France.  Scipio  Africanus  the  Elder 
46 


MENTAL  ACTIVITY  IN  THE  YOUNG 

distinguished  himself  at  the  battle  of 
Ticinus  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  at 
twenty-nine  overthrew  the  power  of 
Carthage  at  Zama.  Alexander  the 
Great  defeated  the  celebrated  Theban 
band  at  Chseronea  before  he  had  at- 
tained the  age  of  eighteen,  ascended  the 
throne  at  twenty,  had  conquered  the 
world  at  twenty-five,  and  died  at  thirty- 
two.  Charles  XII  completed  his  first 
campaign  against  Denmark  at  eighteen, 
overthrew  80,000  Russians  at  Narva  be- 
fore nineteen,  conquered  Poland  and 
Saxony  at  twenty-four,  and  died  at 
thirty-six.  Peter  the  Great  of  Russia 
was  proclaimed  Czar  at  ten  years  of  age, 
organized  a  large  army  at  twenty,  won 
the  victory  of  Embach  at  thirty,  and 
founded  St.  Petersburg  at  thirty-one. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-one,  Eugene  of 
Savoy  was  colonel,  at  twenty-four  he 
47 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

was  lieutenant  field-marshal,  and  shortly- 
after  general  field-marshal;  at  thirty- 
four  he  won  the  battle  of  Zenta,  and  at 
forty-one  cooperated  with  Marlborough 
at  Blenheim.  Conde  defeated  the  Span- 
iards at  Rocroi  at  twenty -two,  and  won 
all  his  military  fame  before  the  age  of 
twenty-five.  Julius  Caesar  commanded 
a  fleet  before  Mitylene,  and  distin- 
guished himself  before  the  age  of 
twenty-two;  he  completed  his  first  war 
in  Spain,  and  was  made  a  consul  before 
the  age  of  forty.  Philip  of  Macedon 
ascended  the  throne  at  twenty-two  and 
was  the  conqueror  of. Greece  at  forty- 
five.  Lord  Clive  distinguished  himself 
at  twenty-two,  attained  his  greatest 
fame  at  thirty-five,  and  had  founded  the 
British  Empire  in  India  by  forty.  Na- 
poleon was  a  major  at  twenty-four,  gen- 
eral of  brigade  at  twenty-five,  and 
48 


MENTAL  ACTIVITY  IN  THE  YOUNG 

commander-in-chief  of  the  army  of  Italy 
at  twenty-six.  He  achieved  all  his  victo- 
ries and  was  finally  overthrown  before 
the  age  of  forty-four.  Saxe  was  a 
marechal-de-camp  at  twenty-four,  and 
marshal  of  France  at  forty-four.  Vau- 
ban,  the  great  engineer,  had  conducted 
several  sieges  at  twenty-five,  and  was 
marechal-de-camp  at  forty -three.  Char- 
lemagne was  crowned  king  at  twenty- 
six,  was  master  of  France  and  the 
larger  part  of  Germany  at  twenty -nine, 
placed  on  his  head  the  iron  crown  of 
Italy  at  thirty -two,  and  conquered  Spain 
at  thirty-six.  Hannibal  was  made  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  Carthaginian 
army  in  Spain  at  twenty-six,  and  had 
won  all  his  great  battles  in  Italy,  conclud- 
ing with  Cannse,  at  thirty-one.  Frederick 
the  Great  ascended  the  throne  at  twenty- 
eight;  terminated  the  first  Silesian  war 
*  49 


THE  AGE  OP  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

at  thirty,  and  the  second  at  thirty -three ; 
and  ten  years  later,  with  a  population 
of  only  five  hundred  thousand,  he  tri- 
umphed over  a  league  of  more  than 
one  hundred  millions  of  people.  Mon- 
teeuculi,  at  the  age  of  thirty-one, 
with  two  thousand  horse  attacked  ten 
thousand  Swedes,  and  captured  all  their 
baggage  and  artillery;  at  thirty -two  he 
won  the  victory  of  Triebel.  Wolfe  was 
conqueror  of  Quebec  at  thirty-two,  and 
Turenne,  passing  through  the  grades  of 
captain,  colonel,  major-general  and 
lieutenant-general,  became  a  marshal  of 
France  at  thirty-two,  and  won  all  his 
distinction  before  forty.  Pizarro  com- 
pleted the  conquest  of  Peru  at  thirty-five 
and  died  at  forty,  while  Cortez  effected 
the  conquest  of  Mexico  and  completed 
his  military  career  before  the  age  of 
thirty-six.  At  thirty-six  Scipio  Afri- 
50 


MENTAL  ACTIVITY  IN  THE  YOUNG 

canus  the  Younger  had  completed  the 
destruction  of  Carthage.  Genghis  Khan 
had  achieved  many  of  his  victories  and 
became  emperor  of  the  Mongols  at 
forty,  and  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova 
achieved  a  great  reputation  and  was 
made  commander-in-chief  of  the  army 
of  Italy  at  forty-one. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  three  great 
wars  of  recent  times  were  fought  largely 
by  older  generals.  Some  one  has  gone 
to  the  trouble  to  compile  the  ages  of 
these  officers,  and  with  interesting  re- 
sults: Thus,  in  1861,  the  ages  of  some  of 
the  Union  commanders  in  the  great 
Civil  War  were:  Grant,  39;  Sherman, 
41 ;  Sheridan,  30 ;  McClellan,  35 ;  Rose- 
crans,  42 ;  Thomas,  45 ;  Buell,  43 ;  Han- 
cock, 37;  Meade,  46;  McDowell,  43; 
Pope,  38.  Among  the  Confederates, 
Lee  was  55;  Bragg,  46;  Jackson,  37; 
51 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

Hood,  30 ;  Early,  43 ;  Longstreet,  40 ; 
Beauregard,  45;  Stuart,  28;  Hill,  36; 
Buckner,  37.  The  Franco-Prussian 
War  was  fought  largely  by  old  generals. 
Von  Moltke  was  70  and  Von  Steinmetz 
was  74.  The  triumphs  of  the  recent 
Russo-Japanese  conflict  were  those  of 
old  men.  Marquis  Oyama  was  62; 
Nodzu,  63;  Kuroki,  60;  Oku,  58;  Nogi, 
55;  Nishi,  58;  Kodama,  52;  and  Fu- 
shimi,  46. 


PBECOCITY  AMONG  ARTISTS,  POETS, 
AND  OTHERS 

Evidences  of  environmental  precocity 
have  been  noted  in  other  lines  of  life. 
Thus,  Visconti  was  a  marvel  of  intelli- 
gence at  sixteen  months,  and  preached 
at  six  years.  Horace  Greeley,  before  he 
was  two  years  old,  gave  evidence  of  re- 
52 


MENTAL  ACTIVITY  IN  THE  YOUNG 

markable  precocity;  he  had  learned  his 
letters  before  he  could  talk  plainly,  and 
at  six  had  read  the  Bible  through.  Gas- 
sendi  preached  at  four,  and  Mirabeau 
at  three.  The  latter  published  books  at 
ten.  John  Stuart  Mill  learned  the 
Greek  alphabet  at  three;  by  eight  he 
had  read  much  Greek;  at  eight  he 
learned  Latin;  at  twelve  began  a  thor- 
ough study  of  scholastic  logic;  and  at 
thirteen  began  the  study  of  political 
economy.  Wren  invented  an  astronom- 
ical instrument  and  dedicated  it  in 
Latin  to  his  father  when  only  four  years 
of  age.  Claude  Joseph  Vernet  drew  in 
crayons  at  four,  and  was  celebrated  as 
a  painter  at  twenty.  Pico  della  Miran- 
dola  in  his  childhood  knew  Latin,  Greek, 
Chaldaic,  Syriac,  and  Arabic.  G. 
Wetton  could  translate  Latin,  Greek, 
and  Hebrew  at  five,  and  at  ten  knew 
53 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

Chaldaic,  Syriac,  and  Arabic.  Isaac 
Watts  began  the  study  of  the  classics 
in  his  fifth  year,  and  at  seven  or  eight 
composed  some  of  his  devotional  pieces. 
Corot  from  childhood  demonstrated  that 
he  was  a  born  artist.  Landseer  in  his 
fifth  year  drew  fairly  well,  and  excel- 
lently at  eight  years  of  age.  At  ten  he 
was  an  admirable  draftsman,  and  at 
thirteen  he  drew  a  majestic  St.  Bernard 
dog  so  finely  that  his  brother  Thomas 
engraved  and  published  the  work.  Bul- 
wer  Lytton  the  novelist  wrote  ballads 
at  five  years  of  age,  and  at  fifteen  pub- 
lished "Ismael,  an  Oriental  Tale,  with 
other  Poems."  Scott  at  the  age  of  six 
defined  himself  as  a  "virtuoso";  at  ten 
he  was  a  connoisseur  in  various  read- 
ings. Dean  Alford  at  six  wrote  a  little 
manuscript  volume,  "The  Travels  of 
St.  Paul";  before  eight  he  had  penned 
54 


MENTAL  ACTIVITY  IN  THE  YOUNG 

a  collection  of  Latin  odes  in  miniature; 
at  nine  he  had  compiled  a  compendious 
"History  of  the  Jews,"  and  before  ten 
he  had  produced  a  series  of  terse  ser- 
mons. Wieland  at  seven  knew  Latin, 
meditated  an  epic  at  thirteen,  and  pub- 
lished a  poem  at  sixteen.  At  seven 
Cope  made  drawings  of  jellyfish  and 
other  marine  fauna  which  he  had  seen 
on  a  voyage  to  Boston.  Kotzebue  at- 
tempted comedies  at  seven,  and  wrote 
his  first  tragedy  at  eighteen.  Reynolds 
at  eight  made  a  fine  drawing  of  his 
school-house,  and  Leibnitz  at  the  same 
age  taught  himself  Latin,  and  at  twelve 
had  begun  Greek.  Macaulay  at  eight 
had  written  a  "Compendium  of  Uni- 
versal History"  and  a  romance  in  three 
cantos— "The  Battle  of  Cheviot";  at 
ten  he  wrote  a  long  poem  on  the  his- 
tory of  Olaus  Magnus,  and  "Fingal,"  a 
55 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

poem  in  twelve  books  of  blank  verse. 
Dante  composed  a  sonnet  to  Beatrice  at 
nine,  and  Goethe  wrote  several  lan- 
guages before  the  age  of  ten.  JNIetas- 
tasio  improvised  at  ten;  and  Robert 
Browning,  while  still  a  youth,  acquired 
the  triple  reputation  of  poet,  musician, 
and  modeler.  Edwin  Forrest  when 
scarcely  eleven  years  old  formed  a  Thes- 
pian society,  and  Gainsborough  at  ten 
had  sketched  every  fine  tree  and  pictur- 
esque cottage  near  Sudbury.  Lope  de 
Vega  Carpio  wrote  poems  at  twelve, 
and  at  the  same  age  Byron,  Pope,  and 
Tennyson  began  their  work.  Pope's 
"Ode  on  Solitude"  appeared  at  this  age, 
and  his  "Pastorals"  were  published  at 
sixteen.  At  twelve  Tennyson  wrote  an 
epic  of  six  thousand  lines,  and  at  four- 
teen a  drama  in  blank  verse  of  perfect 
meter.  Calderon  pubhshed  his  "Chariot 
56 


MENTAL  ACTIVITY  IN  THE  YOUNG 

of  Heaven"  at  thirteen;  and  Ascoli,  a 
work  in  Wallachian  and  Trioulian  dia- 
lects. Hans  Christian  Andersen,  before 
his  fourteenth  year,  had  written  several 
tragedies  and  poems,  including  the 
"Dying  Child."  Raphael  was  re- 
nowned at  fourteen;  Fenelon  preached 
an  excellent  sermon  at  fifteen;  and  at 
the  same  age  Victor  Hugo  wrote  "Irta- 
mene."  At  sixteen  Moore  translated 
"Anacreon,"  and  Lamennais  wrote  the 
"Words  of  a  Believer."  Spenser  pub- 
lished verse  at  sixteen  and  seventeen ;  at 
eighteen  Albert  Gallatin  was  clear- 
minded,  sober,  and  practical;  at  the 
same  age  Lessing  wrote  a  comedy,  "Der 
junge  Gelehrte";  Jerrold,  his  first 
comedy,  "More  Frightened  than  Hurt" ; 
and  Byron,  his  "Hours  of  Idleness." 
Bryant  at  nineteen  wrote  his  celebrated 
"Thanatopsis,"  and  Gautier  his  "AI- 
57 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

berta"  and  other  poems.  Galileo  from 
his  earliest  childhood  was  remarkable 
for  intellectual  aptitude  and  mechanical 
invention.  At  nineteen  he  discovered 
the  isochronism  of  the  pendulum  in  the 
cathedral  at  Pisa,  and  fifty  years  later 
turned  this  to  account  in  the  construc- 
tion of  an  astronomical  clock.  Before 
the  age  of  twenty,  Hugo  had  published 
"Hans  of  Iceland"  and  his  first  volume 
of  "Odes  and  Ballads." 


THE  PHILOSOPHERS 

There  is  a  danger  here,  capable  of  be- 
coming a  bone  of  contention  and  a  rock 
of  offense,  that  as  fair  and  impartial  stu- 
dents of  the  human  mind  we  must  recog- 
nize and  avoid.  These  remarkable  state- 
ments that  must  astound  us  and  arouse 
a  wave  of  enthusiasm,  admiration,  and 
58 


MENTAL  ACTIVITY  IN  THE  YOUNG 

respect,  represent  precocious  beginnings 
only  or  in  large  part,  and  must  not  be 
confounded  with  the  true  life-work 
of  the  persons.  Professor  Wallin  of 
Princeton  and  others  are  eminently  cor- 
rect when  they  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  Comte  and  Pascal,  Kant  and 
Schelling,  Hume,  Helmholtz,  Schopen- 
hauer, Bacon,  and  many  others  of  the 
school  of  philosophers,  were  thinkers  at 
unusually  tender  years.  The  work  done 
then,  however,  was  not  their  life-work, 
but  only  the  faint  dawning  that  indi- 
cated the  brilliant  day  that  was  to 
follow.  Thus,  while  Bacon  may  have 
conceived  his  "Novum  Organum"  at  fif- 
teen, it  was  not  until  the  ripe  age  of 
fifty-nine  that  he  gave  it  to  the  printers. 
While  Kant,  the  greatest  of  all  criticists, 
wrote  his  "Estimate  of  Living  Force" 
at  twenty-three,  he  published  his  "Cri- 
69 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

tique  of  Pure  Reason"  at  fifty-seven. 
Schelling  began  writing  as  a  boy  of 
seventeen,  and  at  twenty-five  published 
his  "System  of  Transcendental  Ideal- 
ism," one  of  the  most  finished  and  satis- 
factory of  his  works ;  but  it  was  not  until 
after  his  death  at  seventy-nine  that  his 
substantial  and  weighty  "Philosophy  of 
Mjrthology  and  Revelation"  was  given 
to  the  world.  Helmholtz  at  twenty-six 
wrote  his  "Kraft,"  the  most  important 
essay  in  natural  science  for  centuries, 
but  what  of  his  magnificent  work  of  the 
next  quarter  of  a  century?  It  is  easy 
to  advance  arguments  to  prove  the  accu- 
racy of  any  theory,  but  a  study  of  the 
mentality  of  a  given  person  requires  a 
comprehensive  review  of  all  his  work. 
It  remains  true,  therefore,  that  beyond 
being  suggestive  of  richness  to  come, 
these  early  beginnings  do  not  indicate 
60 


MENTAL  ACTIVITY  IN  THE  YOUNG 

the  acme  of  mental  ability.  This  is  pres- 
ent only  during  the  years  in  which  the 
masterwork  of  the  person  is  being  ac- 
complished. It  is  essential,  accordingly, 
to  find  the  age  of  the  performance  of  the 
magnum  opus,  in  order  to  affirm  when  a 
man  is  at  his  highest  value  to  his  fellows. 


61 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  ACME  AND  DURATION  OF 
MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

HAVING  in  this  manner  disposed  of 
the  initial  age  of  mental  activity, 
and  having  reviewed  the  remarkable 
performances  of  the  prodigies  who  have 
astounded  and  delighted  their  fellow- 
men  and  who  have  wonderfully  helped 
in  the  mental  development  of  the  world, 
we  reach  what  is  probably  the  most  in- 
teresting phase  of  the  subject.  When 
is  an  individual  mind  most  useful  to  the 
world,  and  how  long  does  it,  as  a  rule, 
maintain  the  high  standard  to  which  it 
has  aspired?  Again,  advancing  from 
the  individual  to  the  various  groups  of 
62 


DURATION  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

workers  and  thinkers,  what  is  the 
average  age  of  masterful  production 
for  these  men  of  mentality,  and  what 
the  average  age  for  all  the  groups 
studied  as  a  whole? 

THE  AGE  OF  THE  MASTERPIECE 

The  summum  honum  of  a  man's  life— 
who  shall  say  when  or  what  it  is  in  any 
given  case?  It  becomes  almost  a  work 
of  supererogation  to  attempt  to  desig- 
nate any  single  act  or  performance  as 
the  one  most  valuable  in  any  man's  ca- 
reer. Reduced  to  the  ultimate,  it  be- 
comes, after  all,  only  the  expression  of 
an  individual  opinion,  save  in  those 
striking  instances  in  which  by  general 
consent  a  certain  achievement  is  recog- 
nized as  the  man's  greatest  work.  No 
one  would  deny  that  in  "Paradise  Lost" 
63 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

Milton  attained  the  highest  expression 
of  his  mentality,  that  Wellington 
achieved  his  greatest  fame  when  he  won 
the  field  of  Waterloo,  that  Bacon's 
"Novum  Organum"  is  his  greatest  ac- 
complishment, and  that  "Don  Quixote" 
exceeded  anything  else  that  Cervantes 
ever  did.  In  other  life-records  one  act 
may  appear  equal  to  another  at  differ- 
ent stages  in  the  man's  development; 
or  to  one  observer  the  influence  of  one 
deed  may  far  outweigh  that  of  another, 
and  contrariwise.  This  difficulty  has 
been  exceedingly  hard  to  overcome,  and 
without  any  attempt  at  dogmatism,  but 
with  the  earnest  desire  to  ascertain  the 
truth  as  far  as  may  be  possible,  has  the 
decision  been  made  in  the  disputable 
records. 

Having  been  arranged  in  this  man- 
ner, the  records  give  an  average  age  of 
64 


DURATION  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

fifty  for  the  performance  of  the  master- 
work.  For  the  workers  the  average  age 
is  forty-seven,  and  for  the  thinkers  fifty- 
two.  Chemists  and  physicists  average 
the  youngest  at  forty-one;  dramatists 
and  playwrights,  poets  and  inventors, 
follow  at  forty-four;  novelists  give  an 
average  of  forty-six ;  explorers  and  war- 
riors, forty-seven;  musical  composers 
and  actors,  forty -eight;  artists  and 
divines  occupy  the  position  of  equi- 
librium at  fifty ;  essayists  and  reformers 
stand  at  fifty-one;  physicians  and  sur- 
geons line  up  with  the  statesmen  at 
fifty-two;  philosophers  give  an  average 
of  fifty-four;  astronomers  and  mathe- 
maticians, satirists  and  humorists,  reach 
fifty-six;  historians,  fifty-seven;  and 
naturalists  and  jurists,  fifty-eight.  As 
may  be  noted,  there  is  a  rearrangement 
of  the  order  at  this  time,  but  the  think- 
«  65 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

ers,  as  before,  and  as  would  naturally 
be  expected,  attain  their  full  maturity 
at  a  later  period  than  the  workers. 

Interesting  and  unexpected  as  it  may 
be,  even  this  average  age  of  fifty  is  mis- 
leading ;  for  it  must  be  remembered  that 
the  four  hundred  lives  that  have  been 
analyzed  included  many  that  were 
snuffed  out  prematurely  "by  accident, 
murder,  suicide,  and  the  untimely  tak- 
ing off  by  disease.  Many  of  these  men, 
as  Byron,  Shelley,  Keats,  Poe,  Mungo 
Park,  Christopher  Marlowe,  and 
Thomas  Chatterton  (who  committed 
suicide  when  but  eighteen  years  of  age) 
completed  their  life-works  before  the 
age  of  forty  had  been  reached.  It  is 
safe  to  conclude  that  had  these  men 
rounded  out  lifetimes  of  fifty,  sixty,  or 
seventy  years,  as  they  had  every  right  to 
anticipate  and  expect,  they  would  have 
66 


DURATION  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

done  even  better  work  than  that  already 
accomplished.  Would  Byron  at  thirty- 
five  with  the  completion  of  "Don  Juan" 
have  written  his  greatest  poem  even  had 
he  been  permitted  to  attain  the  statutory 
age  of  seventy?  Would  Poe  at  thirty- 
six  with  his  "Raven"  and  weird  tales 
have  reached  the  acme  of  a  life  that 
might  have  spread  out  to  sixty  years? 
Would  Christopher  Marlowe,  who  was 
but  twenty-nine  years  old  when  slain  by 
a  drunken  brawler,  never  have  done 
anything  greater  than  he  had  accom- 
plished up  to  that  time?  It  stands  to 
reason  that  these  men  had  only  begun 
to  show  the  wonderful  possibilities  of 
their  minds,  and  had  they  been  permit- 
ted to  live  longer  doubtless  still  greater 
and  more  brilliant  achievements  of  men- 
tality would  have  been  placed  to  their 
credit.  It  is  probable  that  then  the 
67 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

average  age  of  the  masterpiece  would 
be  nearer  sixty  than  fifty.  However, 
this  is  but  supposition,  and  the  facts  as 
ascertained  must  stand. 

The  corollary  is  evident.  Provided 
health  and  optimism  remain,  the  man  of 
fifty  can  command  success  as  readily  as 
the  man  of  thirty.  Health  plus  optim- 
ism read  the  secret  of  success;  the  one 
God-given,  the  other  inborn,  also,  but 
capable  of  cultivation  to  the  point  of 
enthusiasm. 

THE  DURATION  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

A  LINE  of  mental  activity,  once  begun 
may  continue  indefinitely,  its  duration 
being  dependent  upon  a  number  of  cor- 
related conditions,  such  as  the  state  of 
health,  opportunity,  accident,  and  ambi- 
tion. In  the  four-hundred  records  com- 
68 


DURATION  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

prised  in  the  present  study,  the  average 
duration  of  the  mental  process  was  forty 
years.  For  the  thinkers  it  was  thirty- 
nine  years,  and  for  the  workers  forty- 
one.  This  only  confirms  the  natural 
inference,  since  the  thinkers  generally 
develop  later  in  life.  The  only  reason 
why  there  is  not  a  greater  difference  is 
that  a  considerable  number  of  the  think- 
ers prolonged  their  mental  labors,  and 
most  effectively,  far  beyond  the  usual 
limit  of  productive  cerebration.  The 
duration  is  the  shortest  for  poets  and 
satirists  and  humorists,  being  only 
thirty -three  years.  Explorers,  reform- 
ers, novelists,  dramatists,  and  play- 
wrights show  a  duration  of  thirty-five 
years;  warriors,  chemists,  physicists, 
and  philosophers,  thirty-seven  years; 
statesmen,  thirty-eight  years;  essayists, 
forty  years;  musical  composers,  forty- 
69 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

one  years;  actors  and  artists,  forty-two 
years;  historians  and  divines,  forty- 
three  years;  jurists,  forty-four  years; 
naturahsts,  forty-five  years;  physicians 
and  surgeons,  forty-six  years;  astrono- 
mers and  mathematicians,  forty-seven 
years ;  and  inventors,  forty -nine  years. 

Thirty-five  per  cent,  of  the  men 
ceased  their  mental  activity  in  the 
seventh  decade;  22l/^  per  cent,  in  the 
eighth;  20%  per  cent,  in  the  sixth;  IOI4 
per  cent,  in  the  fifth;  6  per  cent,  in  the 
ninth ;  4I/2  per  cent,  in  the  fourth.  One 
man,  Chatterton,  ended  his  career  in  the 
second  decade;  three  in  the  tenth  dec- 
ade; and  five  in  the  third.  Seventy- 
eight  and  a  quarter  per  cent,  closed  their 
life-work  between  fifty  and  eighty  years 
of  age,  and  85  per  cent,  after  the  fiftieth 
year. 

While  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases 
70 


DURATION  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

declining  physical  and  mental  ability 
progressed  pari  passu  to  the  cessation 
of  life,  there  loom  up  amid  the  general 
wreck  of  the  bodily  and  cerebral  powers 
some  striking  instances  of  remarkable 
mental  vitality  and  virility,  standing 
out,  like  beacon-lights  of  hope,  far  be- 
yond the  period  of  normal  decay. 
These  mental  heroes  counterbalance  the 
achievements  of  the  young,  already 
mentioned,  if  not  in  numbers,  truly  in 
productive  value  and  influence  upon  the 
culture  and  welfare  of  the  race.  No 
greater  inspiration  can  be  found  in  all 
the  records  of  life-work  than  in  a  review 
of  these  achievements  of  old  age. 

A  GROUP  OF  TITANS 

Thus  Bockh,  the  "baby"  member  of 

the  group,  at  seventy  published  one  of 

71 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

the  greatest  of  his  works,  "Zur  Ge- 
schichte  der  Mondcyclen  der  Hellenen." 
Between  the  ages  of  seventy  and  eighty- 
three,  Commodore  Vanderbilt  increased 
the  mileage  of  his  road  from  120  to 
10,000  and  added  about  one  hundred 
milHons  to  his  fortune.  Grote,  in  his 
seventy-first  year,  began  his  work  on 
"Aristotle."  At  this  time  he  writes: 
"My  power  of  doing  work  is  sadly 
diminished  as  to  quantity,  but  as  to 
quality  (both  perspicacity,  memory, 
and  suggestive  association  bringing  up 
new  communications),  I  am  sure  that 
my  intellect  is  as  good  as  it  ever  was." 
He  died  in  his  seventy-seventh  year,  leav- 
ing "Aristotle"  unfinished.  At  seventy- 
two,  Handel,  blind  for  the  last  six  years 
of  his  life,  composed  his  oratorio,  "Tri- 
umph of  Time  and  Truth,"  and  died  at 
seventy-four,  working  until  the  last. 
72 


DURATION  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

Eight  days  before  his  death  he  played 
the  organ  at  a  performance  of  his  "Mes- 
siah." At  the  same  age  Meyerbeer  pro- 
duced his  greatest  opera,  "L'Af ricaine," 
Samuel  Johnson  published  the  best  of 
his  works,  "Lives  of  the  Poets,"  and 
Littre  completed  his  greatest  of  all  dic- 
tionaries. Wordsworth  was  appointed 
to  the  laureateship  at  seventy -three,  and 
lived  to  see  his  eightieth  birthday. 
George  Buchanan,  the  stout  old  Scotch- 
man, wrote  his  "De  Jure  Regni"  in  de- 
fense of  popular  rights  at  seventy -three, 
and  lived  four  years  longer.  Galileo  at 
seventy-three  made  his  last  telescopic 
discovery — that  of  the  diurnal  and 
monthly  librations  of  the  moon.  At 
seventy-four,  Kant  wrote  his  "Anthro- 
pology," the  "Metaphysics  of  Ethics," 
and  the  "Strife  of  the  Faculties,"  and 
Thiers  helped  to  establish  the  French 
78 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

republic  and  became  President,  holding 
that  exalted  office  for  two  years.  Tinto- 
retto at  the  same  age  painted  his  crown- 
ing production,  the  vast  "Paradise,"  a 
canvas  seventy-four  feet  by  thirty. 
Verdi,  when  seventy-four,  produced  his 
masterpiece,  "Otello,"  which  is  thought 
to  be  an  immense  advance  over  anything 
he  had  yet  written,  and  in  his  eightieth 
year  wrote  "Falstaff,"  which  was  as 
brilliant  a  work  as  "Otello."  When 
eighty-five  he  wrote  his  "Ave  Maria," 
"Laudi  alia  Virgine,"  "Stabat  Mater," 
and  "Te  Deum,"  all  wonderfully  beau- 
tiful. Holmes  at  seventy-four  pub- 
lished his  medical  essays,  and  "Pages 
from  an  Old  Volume  of  Life";  at 
seventy-five  wrote  his  essay  on  Emer- 
son; at  seventy-six  published  "A  Mortal 
Antipathy"  and  "The  New  Portfolio"; 
at  seventy -eight  wrote  "Our  Hundred 
74 


DURATION  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

Days  in  Europe";  and  at  seventy-nine 
published  "Over  the  Tea-Cups,"  dying 
at  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty-five.  Long- 
fellow at  seventy-five  wrote  his  impos- 
ing meditation  "Hermes  Trismegistus" 
and  the  beautiful  "Bells  of  San  Bias." 
At  the  same  age  Isaac  D'Israeli  pub- 
lished his  "Amenities  of  Literature,"  a 
three-volume  work,  and  that  notwith- 
standing total  bhndness  for  three  years 
preceding.  At  seventy-five  Henry  Clay 
was  still  a  leader  in  the  land,  Hallam 
published  his  "Literary  Essays  and 
Characters,"  Metternich  was  driven 
from  power,  Bismarck  was  forced  from 
the  Chancellorship  by  the  German  Em- 
peror, Crispi  assumed  the  Premiership 
of  Italy,  and  Allen  G.  Thurman  was 
nominated  for  the  Vice-Presidency  of 
the  United  States.  Hugo  at  seventy-five 
wrote  "History  of  a  Crime";  at  seventy- 
76 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

seven  published  "Le  Pape" ;  at  seventy- 
eight,  "L'Ane";  at  seventy-nine,  "Les 
Quatre  Vents  de  I'Esprit";  and  at 
eighty,  "Torquemada."  Lamartine  at 
seventy-six  wrote  a  novel,  "Fior 
d'Aliza."  Washington  Irving  lived  to 
be  seventy-six,  and  wrote  his  "Life  of 
Washington"  in  his  last  years.  Peru- 
gino  at  seventy-six  painted  the  walls  of 
the  Church  of  Castello  di  Fontignano, 
and  Humboldt  postponed  until  his 
seventy-sixth  year  the  beginning  of  the 
crowning  task  of  his  life,  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  "Kosmos,"  which  he  success- 
fully completed  in  his  ninetieth  year. 
Biot  at  seventy-seven  prepared  an 
enlarged  edition  of  his  "Physical  Astron- 
omy," which  he  completed  at  eighty- 
three,  living  five  years  longer.  Jacob 
Grimm  died  at  seventy-eight,  working 
to  the  last,  and  Laplace,  dying  at  the 
76 


DURATION  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

same  age,  said  with  his  last  breath: 
"What  we  know  is  nothing ;  what  we  do 
not  know  is  immense."  Lamarck  at 
seventy-eight  completed  his  greatest 
zoological  work,  "The  Natural  History 
of  Invertebrates,"  and  lived  until 
eighty-five  years  of  age.  Whittier  at 
seventy-nine  published  "Poems  of  Na- 
ture" and  "St.  Gregory's  Guest."  Wil- 
liam Cullen  Bryant,  when  seventy-five, 
published  his  "Letters  from  Spain  and 
Other  Countries"  and  "Letters  from  the 
East" ;  when  seventy-seven  he  published 
his  brilliant  translations  of  the  "Iliad" 
and  the  "Odyssey";  at  seventy-nine,  a 
volume  of  "Orations  and  Addresses," 
and  was  active  until  his  death  from  heat- 
exhaustion  when  eighty-four  years  old. 
Browning  wrote  with  undiminished 
vigor  until  his  death  at  seventy-seven. 
When  seventy-five  he  published  "Par- 
77 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

leyings  with  Certain  People,"  and  "Aso- 
lando"  appeared  shortly  before  the  close 
of  his  life.  Joseph  Jefferson,  the  be- 
loved American  comedian,  was  as  ef- 
fective in  all  his  roles  when  seventy-five 
as  when  at  the  height  of  his  physical 
power. 

THE  OCTOGENARIANS 

What  shall  we  say  of  the  octogenarians 
andof  those  who  were  older?  As  is  well 
known,  Cato  at  this  age  began  the  study 
of  Greek,  Plutarch  began  his  first  les- 
sons in  Latin,  and  Socrates  learned  to 
play  on  instruments  of  music.  Ar- 
nauld,  the  theologian  and  sage,  trans- 
lated Josephus  in  his  eightieth  year. 
Gladstone  began  his  great  Midlothian 
campaign,  which  overthrew  the  Con- 
servative Government,  and  put  himself 
78 


DURATION  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

and  his  party  in  power,  at  eighty  years 
of  age.  He  became  Premier  for  the 
fourth  time  at  eighty-three,  and  held  the 
office  for  two  years.  West  painted  ad- 
mirably until  eighty  years  of  age,  and 
Goethe,  at  Weimar,  completed  "Faust" 
when  as  old.  Hahnemann  married  at 
eighty,  and  was  working  at  ninety-one 
years.  Simonides  won  the  prize  for 
verse  when  over  eighty  years  of  age, 
and  Ranke  at  the  age  of  eighty  began 
his  "History  of  the  World,"  and  lived 
to  complete  twelve  volumes,  dying  at 
the  age  of  ninety -one.  His  later  works 
show  no  diminution  of  power,  and  he 
wrote  until  within  a  few  days  of  his 
death.  Buffon,  the  great  French  nat- 
uralist, until  shortly  before  his  death  at 
eighty-one,  labored  upon  his  "Natural 
History,"  a  work  of  forty-four  volumes. 
Henry  G.  Davis  at  eighty -one  was  nomi- 
79 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

nated  for  the  Vice-Presidency  of  the 
United  States;  Palmerston  was  Prime 
Minister  of  England  when  he  died  at 
that  age,  and  John  Quincy  Adams  was  a 
power  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
when  stricken  at  eighty-one.  Bancroft 
published  the  concluding  volume  of  his 
"History"  at  eighty-two,  and  died  at 
ninety-one.  Charles  Willson  Peale,  the 
painter,  at  eighty-two  wielded  his  brush 
without  the  aid  of  spectacles  and  did 
some  of  his  best  work.  Voltaire  at 
eighty-three  published  a  tragedy, 
"Irene";  and  Tennyson,  whose  age  was 
eighty-three,  gave  the  world  in  his 
"Crossing  the  Bar"  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  of  swan-songs.  Newton  at 
eighty-three  worked  as  hard  as  he  did 
in  middle  life,  and  Herbert  Spencer 
died  at  the  same  age,  almost  with  pen  in 
hand.  Thomas  Jefferson  was  fruitful 
80 


DURATION  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

in  council  until  the  day  of  his  death  at 
eighty-three.  Rennell  at  eighty-three 
read  a  paper  "Concerning  the  Identity 
of  the  Remains  at  Jerash,  whether  they 
are  those  of  Gerasa  or  Pella,"  and  the 
next  year  another  "Concerning  the  place 
where  Julius  Caesar  landed  in  Britain." 
Talleyrand,  dying  at  eighty-four,  had, 
under  successive  French  rulers,  been 
a  power  all  his  life.  Landor  wrote 
his  "Imaginary  Conversations"  when 
eighty-five  years  old,  and  at  eighty-seven 
published  his  last  volume  of  "Heroic 
Idylls."  Guizot  at  eighty-seven  showed 
unimpaired  mental  vigor  and  activity, 
and  Hobbes,  the  English  philosopher, 
at  the  same  age  published  his  version  of 
the  "Odyssey,"  and  his  "Iliad"  one  year 
later.  A  few  weeks  before  his  death,  in 
his  ninetieth  year,  he  wrote  to  his  pub- 
lisher, "I  shall  have  something  in  Eng- 
6  81 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

lish  for  you  shortly."  Von  Moltke, 
when  eighty -eight,  was  still  chief  of  staif 
of  the  Prussian  army,  and  John  Wesley 
at  that  age  preached  almost  every  day 
and  still  held  the  helm  of  Methodism. 
At  eighty-nine,  Michelangelo  was  still 
painting  his  great  canvases ;  Theophras- 
tus's  greatest  work,  "The  Character  of 
Man,"  was  begun  on  his  ninetieth  birth- 
day, and  Izaak  Walton  wielded  a  ready 
pen  at  ninety.  John  Adams  retained  all 
his  great  mental  ability  up  to  the  time  of 
his  death  at  ninety-one,  and  Pope  Leo 
XIII  showed  no  sign  of  intellectual  de- 
crepitude when  he  died  of  old  age  at 
ninety-three.  Cornaro  was  in  far  better 
health  at  ninety-five  than  at  thirty,  and, 
it  is  said,  was  as  happy  as  a  boy.  Fon- 
tenelle  was  as  light-hearted  at  ninety- 
eight  as  at  forty;  IMacklin,  the  Irish 
actor,  born  in  1690,  performed  in  Eng- 
82 


DURATION  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

land  in  1789,  being  then  in  his  ninety- 
ninth  year;  and,  wonder  of  wonders! 
Chevreul,  the  great  scientist,  whose  un- 
tiring labors  in  the  realm  of  color  have 
so  enriched  the  world,  was  busy,  keen, 
and  active  when  death  called  him  at  the 
age  of  103. 

With  such  achievements  of  the  truly 
aged  confronting  us,  who  so  bold  as  to 
attempt  to  set  a  limit  to  the  usefulness 
of  any  man?  It  remains  true,  as  the 
venerable  Dr.  Cuyler  has  indicated,  that 
for  many  of  the  purposes  and  achieve- 
ments of  life  youth  and  early  manhood 
are  the  most  favorable;  but  for  certain 
others  the  compacted  mental  fiber,  long 
experience,  and  matured  judgment  of 
old  age,  are  the  most  serviceable  endow- 
ments. The  one  cannot  usurp  the  place 
of  the  other,  and  the  first  only  paves  the 
way  for  the  second.  Not  infrequently 
83 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

those  mentalities  that  ripen  the  slowest 
last  the  longest,  and  often  the  history 
of  these  great  men  has  been  persistent 
neglect  and  worldly  coldness  until 
forty  or  more  years  have  passed  before 
their  greatness  has  been  conceded  by 
their  contemporaries.  Truly,  "the  life 
history  of  a  great  genius  is  almost  inva- 
riably one  of  a  sad  and  somber  tone,  a 
walk  apart  from  the  beaten  path." 
Such  are  the  words  of  one  who  should 
know  what  the  "doers  of  deeds"  must 
endure.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  now 
recognized  that  many  of  the  finest 
achievements  in  business,  statesmanship, 
literature,  and  in  all  activities,  have  been 
wrought  by  men  long  past  sixty. 
Writes  one:  "No  strong  man  will  accept 
sixty  as  the  arbitrary  limit  of  his  ambi- 
tion and  working  ability." 

Axiomatically   speaking,   the   deter- 
84 


DURATION  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY 

mination  and  the  capacity  to  hold  on 
and  to  make  never-ending  effort  are  the 
main  elements  in  deciding  success  in 
self -culture,  advancement,  and  growth 
in  every  line  of  work.  Heredity,  how- 
ever, counts  for  much.  Innate  nervous 
and  mental  energy  are  essential.  He 
who  comes  into  the  world  but  feebly 
equipped  in  these  qualifications  is  sadly 
handicapped  in  the  battle  of  life.  Like- 
wise environment  influences  destiny  to 
a  noteworthy  degree.  Early  surround- 
ings, parental  and  associate,  determine 
the  direction  and  growth  of  the  mind. 
Self-confidence,  determined  effort,  and 
inherent  mental  force  will  work  won- 
ders, no  matter  how  rugged  the  soil  may 
seem. 


85 


CHAPTER  V 

WHAT  THE  WORLD  MIGHT 
HAVE  MISSED 

A  DISTINGUISHED  citizcn  of  the  world, 
xV  a  man  of  extreme  culture  and 
erudition,  whose  achievements  and  lite- 
rary contributions  have  incalculably  en- 
riched the  storehouse  of  knowledge,  not 
long  ago  remarked  in  a  notable  address : 
"Take  the  sum  of  human  achievement, 
in  action,  in  science,  in  art,  in  literature ; 
subtract  the  work  of  the  men  above 
forty,  and  while  we  should  miss  great 
treasures,  even  priceless  treasures,  we 
would  practically  be  where  we  are  to- 
day. It  is  difficult  to  name  a  great  and 
far-reaching  conquest  of  the  mind  which 
86 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

has  not  been  given  to  the  world  by  a 
man  on  whose  back  the  sun  was  still 
shining.  The  effective,  moving,  vitaliz- 
ing work  of  the  world  is  done  between 
the  ages  of  twenty-five  and  forty." 

No  more  genial  and  kindly  disposed 
person  exists  than  Professor  Osier,  the 
originator  of  these  views.  Love  for  his 
fellow-man  and  intense  sympathy  are 
his  striking  characteristics.  Only  the 
most  honest  belief  prompts  every  utter- 
ance of  his  pen.  Statements  from  such 
a  source,  however  startling  or  distasteful 
to  the  average  reader,  command  an 
earnest  perusal,  a  close  and  searching 
investigation — but  not  a  blind  accept- 
ance. For  even  the  most  thoroughly 
grounded  may,  if  arguing  from  appa- 
rently sound,  but  actually  incorrect, 
premises,  arrive  at  logically  correct,  but 
virtually  erroneous,  conclusions.  If  the 
87 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

deduction  be  correct,  why,  one  would 
reason,  should  the  earth  be  cumbered 
with  so  much  intellectual  deadwood,  the 
span  of  life  be  extended  to  threescore 
and  ten  years  only  that  there  may  be 
thirty  years  of  regression  and  slow  but 
progressive  mental  decay?  Nature  in 
all  her  many  laboratories  is  prodigal  in 
her  profusion,  but  never  aimlessly  so. 
There  is  an  excess  of  production,  but 
never  a  useless  accumulation.  Only  that 
survives  which  is  found  worthy;  all  else 
speedily  makes  way  for  more  powerful, 
more  efficient,  and  more  productive  suc- 
cessors. The  Pre-tertiary  times  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  Tertiary,  this  for 
the  Quaternary,  and  all  for  the  dwelling 
of  man  upon  the  earth.  The  antedilu- 
vian must  perish  in  order  that  his  more 
worthy  successor  should  find  the  way 
clear  for  his  development.  The  super- 
88 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

stitions  of  antiquity  and  of  medieval 
times  vanish  before  the  sunburst  of 
education  and  accumulated  knowledge. 
Only  in  the  noblest  creation  of  nature 
are  we  to  find  a  notable  exception.  Man 
is  at  his  best  in  his  youthful  days,  and 
then,  resisting  the  sublime  law  of  the 
"survival  of  the  fittest,"  insists  upon 
lingering  here  that  he  may  gloat  over 
his  early  successes  or  bemoan  his  intel- 
lectual decay,  according  to  the  peculiar 
temperament  with  which  he  has  been 
endowed. 

The  sweeping  and  iconoclastic  state- 
ment of  the  brilliant  savant  at  first  sight 
would  seem  to  discount  temperament, 
experience,  accumulated  learning,  judg- 
ment, discretion,  maturity — all  that  go 
to  make  the  intellectual  granite  and 
marble  of  the  impressive  and  command- 
ing man  of  middle  age.  Impulse,  ini- 
89 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

tiative,  adventure,  rise  to  the  acme  of 
desirability,  and  are  the  golden  virtues 
to  be  cultivated  and  apotheosized.  Only 
fifteen  years  of  mental  effort,  and  the 
climax  is  reached!  Then  begins  the  in- 
evitable descent  to  oblivion  and  decay. 
Again,  it  would  seem  to  indicate  that  all 
these  virtues,  desirable  enough  in  their 
place  and  time,  are  strictly  and  irrev- 
ocably limited  to  a  certain  period  of  the 
human  development.  Beyond  this 
epochal  dead-line  they  cannot  be  found, 
save  in  monumental  exceptions  which 
are  the  wonder  and  perplexity  of  the 
hidebound  scientist. 

Does  history  warrant  or  corroborate 
such  a  conclusion?  Most  assuredly  not, 
and  doubtless  it  was  far  from  the  inten- 
tion of  the  writer  of  the  opening  para- 
graph even  to  intimate  as  much.  The 
record-book  of  the  world  is  replete  with 
9Q 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

the  opportunities  and  successes  of  age  and 
experience.  As  some  one  has  said:  "The 
golden  thread  of  youth  is  carried  to  a 
much  later  period  of  life  now  than  it  was 
in  former  years."  An  Indian,  chided  for 
being  sixty,  replied  that  the  sixties  con- 
tain all  the  wisdom  and  experience  of 
the  twenties,  thirties,  forties,  and  fifties. 
Yes,  and  some  of  the  initiative,  also. 
The  Patriarch  of  the  Exodus,  when  an 
impulsive  and  immature  man  of  forty, 
deeming  the  hour  had  struck,  took  the 
initiative  in  his  own  hands,  blundered, 
through  a  misconception  of  the  times, 
and,  because  of  his  rash  and  inop- 
portune murder  of  the  Egyptian 
brawler,  was  compelled  to  flee  the  land. 
For  forty  years  he  was  immured  in  the 
wilderness  of  Midian,  buffeted  by  wind 
and  tempest,  exiled  from  human  com- 
panionship, gnawed  at  by  conflicting 
91 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

mental  emotions,  there  to  learn  the  se- 
cret of  self-control,  and  through  pro- 
tracted communion  with  nature  to 
acquire  the  massiveness  and  robustness 
of  character  that  were  essential  for  his 
true  work  at  eighty. 

It  is  not  the  motive  of  the  present 
essay,  however,  to  make  up  the  cudgels 
of  defense  for  the  unfortunates  who 
have  attained  to  the  age  of  forty  and 
over.  Let  them  speak  for  themselves. 
A  feeling  of  curiosity  to  know  what 
would  be  subtracted  from  the  sum  of 
achievement  had  life  arbitrarily  been 
terminated  at  successive  ages  has  promp- 
ted what  can  only  properly  be  termed 
a  retrograde  analysis.  Let  it  be  sup- 
posed that  all  life  had  ceased  at  the 
individual  age  of  seventy ;  then  at  sixty, 
fifty,  and  forty,  and  what  then  would 
have  been  left  as  the  result  of  mental 
92 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

activity  in  the  first  four  decades  of  life? 
Here  is  a  wide  field  for  most  interesting 
investigation.  The  scope  is  tremendous, 
embracing  the  outcome  of  mental  activ- 
ity throughout  the  period  of  the  world's 
authentic  history,  and  it  at  once  becomes 
evident  that  only  a  few  pivotal  facts 
can  be  selected  as  illustrative  of  the  ac- 
complishments of  the  various  decades. 
The  omission  of  one  or  another  of  the 
great  records  must  not  be  construed  as 
in  any  sense  depreciatory  or  as  delimit- 
ing their  values  and  influence  upon  the 
evolution  of  the  race. 

AFTER  SEVENTY 

The  Biblical  limitation  of  life  is  three- 
score years  and  ten,  and  any  attainment 
of  years  over  and  beyond  this  age  is  by 
reason  of  strength.  If  it  had  been  de- 
93 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

creed  that  no  man  should  exceed  this 
statutory  limit,  what,  then,  would  have 
been  missed  from  the  category  of  the 
world's  achievements?  In  addition  to 
the  wonderful  work  of  the  "group  of 
Titans,"  of  which  mention  has  already 
been  made,  there  must  now  be  deducted 
a  record  of  achievement  even  more 
astonishing  than  this. 

In  the  first  place,  in  the  sphere  of 
action,  the  great  Mosaic  law,  which  lies 
at  the  foundation  of,  and  has  virtually 
constituted,  the  moral  law  of  the  nations 
ever  since  its  evolution,  would  never 
have  been  promulgated— at  least  as  the 
Mosaic  law.  For  let  it  be  remembered 
that  it  was  presented  to  the  Hebrew 
exodists  when  its  hoary-headed  sponsor 
had  rounded  out  a  century  or  more  of 
existence.  It  may  be  asserted  that  this 
law  would  inevitably  have  been  enacted 
94 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

sooner  or  later  had  not  the  ancient  law- 
giver seized  upon  the  opportunity  when 
it  presented  itself.  This  is  undoubtedly 
true,  not  only  of  the  Mosaic  law,  but  of 
all  great  achievements  which  wait  the 
destined  man  and  hour  for  their  evolu- 
tion and  elaboration.  It  in  no  wise  de- 
tracts, however,  from  the  fact  that  this 
fundamental  law  was  given  to  the  world 
by  one  who  had  attained  to  extreme  age 
— the  twilight  of  life — far  beyond  the 
average  working-period  of  man.  Again, 
Savigny,  the  founder  of  modern  juris- 
prudence, would  not  have  published  his 
famous  treatise  on  "Obligations,"  which 
he  did  when  seventy-four  years  of  age. 
Palmerston  would  not  have  attained  the 
primacy  of  England,  nor  Disraeli  have 
served  his  second  term  in  that  office. 
Benjamin  Franklin's  invaluable  service 
in  France  would  have  been  lost  to  his 
95 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

country;  Gladstone  would  not  have  be- 
come the  "Grand  Old  Man"  of  England 
and  for  eleven  years  have  held  the  prime 
ministership;  and  Henry  Clay's  Omni- 
bus Bill  to  avert  the  battle  on  slavery 
would  not  have  been  conceived. 

In  the  field  of  science  notable  losses 
would  have  to  be  recorded.  Galileo 
would  not  have  made  the  wonderful  dis- 
covery of  the  moon's  diurnal  and 
monthly  librations.  Spencer's  "In- 
adequacy of  Natural  Selection"  and 
Darwin's  "Power  of  Movement  in 
Plants"  and  "The  Formation  of  Vege- 
table Mould  through  the  Action  of 
Worms"  would  not  have  been  written. 
Buffon's  five  volumes  on  minerals  and 
eight  volumes  on  reptiles,  fishes,  and 
cetaceans,  would  have  been  lost.  Von 
Baer,  the  eminent  biologist,  would  not 
have  composed  his  monumental  "Com- 
96 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

parative  Embryology."  Harvey's 
"Exercitationes  de  Generatione  Anima- 
lium"  would  not  exist;  Euler's  greatest 
astronomical  work,  "Opuscula  Analy- 
tical' and  Galileo's  most  valuable  book, 
"Dialogue  on  the  New  Science,"  would 
have  failed  of  publication. 

Priceless  treasures  would  be  elimi- 
nated from  the  art-collections  of  the 
world.  Titian  would  not  have  lived  to 
paint  his  "Venus  and  Adonis,"  "Last 
Judgment,"  "Martyrdom  of  St.  Lau- 
rence," "Christ  Crowned  with  Thorns," 
"Diana  and  Actceon,"  "Magdalen," 
"Christ  in  the  Garden,"  and  his  "Battle 
of  Lepanto,"  which  appeared  when  the 
artist  was  ninety-eight  years  old.  Ben- 
jamin West  would  not  have  painted  his 
masterpiece,  "Christ  Rejected";  Corot's 
"Matin  a  Ville  d'Avray,"  "Danse  An- 
tique," and  "Le  Bucheron,"  would  not 
•^  97 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

exist;  nor  would  Cruikshank's  frontis- 
piece to  Mrs.  Blewitt's  "The  Rose  and 
the  Lily,"  the  latter  having  been  com- 
pleted when  the  artist  was  eighty-three 
years  old.  In  music,  Rossini's  "Petite 
Messe  Solennelle"  would  have  been  lost. 
And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  realm 
of  literary  effort?  It  is  astonishing  to 
note  what  these  old  men  of  seventy  and 
over  have  contributed  in  this  direction. 
Benjamin  Franklin's  inimitable  auto- 
biography; Disraeli's  "Endymion"; 
Landor's  masterful  "Hellenics" ;  Schell- 
ing's  "Philosophy  of  Mythology  and 
Revelation" ;  Chateaubriand's.celebrated 
"Memoires  d'outre-tombe" ;  Milman's 
"History  of  St.  Paul's";  Voltaire's 
tragedy  "Irene";  Leigh  Hunt's  "Stories 
in  Verse";  Emerson's  "Letters  and  So- 
cial Aims";  Ruskin's  "Verona  and 
Other  Lectures";  Michelet's  "History 
98 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

of  the  Nineteenth  Century";  Guizot's 
"Meditations  on  the  Christian  Re- 
ligion" and  his  large  five-volume  "His- 
tory of  France";  Swedenborg's  "De 
Coelo  et  de  Inferno"  and  his  "Sapientia 
Angelica";  Tennyson's  "Rizpah,"  "The 
Foresters,"  "Locksley  Hall  Sixty  Years 
After,"  and  other  famous  poems ;  Long- 
fellow's "Ultima  Thule";  Hallam's 
"Literary  Essays  and  Characters"; 
Washington  Irving's  "Wolfert's 
Roost";  Holmes's  "Iron  Gate  and 
Other  Poems";  Ranke's  "History  of 
Wallenstein,"  and  his  "History  of  Eng- 
land" ;  Hobbes's  "Behemoth,""  Rosetum 
Geometricum,"  "Decameron  Physiolo- 
gicum,"  and  "Problemata  Physica" ;  the 
last  three  volumes  of  Bancroft's  history ; 
Froude's  "Life  of  Lord  Beaconsfield" 
and  "Divorce  of  Catherine  of  Aragon"; 
much  of  Mommsen's  "Corpus  Inscrip- 
99 


THE  AGE  OP  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

tionum     Latinarum" ;     and     Goethe's 
"Wilhelm  Meisters  Wanderjahre." 


BETWEEN  SIXTY  AND  SEVENTY 

Had  the  seventh  decade  (that  which 
may  well  be  termed  the  period  of  his- 
tory-making and  autobiography)  been 
eliminated  from  the  totality  of  human 
life,  still  greater  drafts  upon  the  store- 
house of  knowledge  and  achievement 
would  have  to  be  made.  From  the  field 
of  action  alone  most  important  events 
would  be  deducted.  That  remarkable 
ethico-political  system,  Confucianism, 
which  has  done  so  much  to  mold  the 
Celestial  intellect,  would  have  been  lost 
to  China;  Bismarck  would  not  have  in- 
stituted the  career  of  Germany  as  a  col- 
onizing power;  Pasteur's  discovery  of 
the  value  of  inoculation  for  the  preven- 
100 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

tion  of  hydrophobia  would  have  been 
left  for  some  other  bright  intellect  to 
evolve.  Monroe  would  not  have  enun- 
ciated the  famous  doctrine  for  the 
development  and  protection  of  the 
American  nationalities.  Von  Moltke 
would  not  have  executed  the  marvelous 
campaign  that  won  the  Franco-Prussian 
War,  nor  would  Sir  Charles  Napier's 
famous  campaign  in  the  Sind,  with  its 
great  and  decisive  victories  of  Meanee 
and  Hyderabad,  have  been  conceived. 
The  United  States  would  have  lost  the 
brilliant  career  of  John  Hay  as  Secre- 
tary of  State,  and  the  great  principle  of 
the  preservation  of  the  unity  of  China 
would  not  have  been  established,  to  the 
undoing  of  national,  political,  and  terri- 
torial greed.  Columbus  would  not  have 
accomplished  his  third  and  fourth  great 
voyages,  wherein  he  discovered  the 
101 

ABE.  L.  W0LBAE3T,  M.  D. 
105  Ea^  19th  Street,  N.  Z 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

South  American  continent  and  the 
island  of  Martinique.  England  would 
not  have  profited  by  the  magnificent 
statesmanship  of  Palmerston;  John 
Adams  would  not  have  attained  the 
Presidency  nor  Jefferson  have  served 
his  second  term.  Beaconsfield's  primacy 
in  England,  Crispi's  in  Italy,  and  Dan- 
iel Webster's  second  term  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  State  would  have  been  lost  to 
their  respective  governments,  while  the 
American  Colony  would  have  been 
deprived  of  Benjamin  Franklin's  in- 
valuable services  at  home.  In  the  great 
religious  struggle  in  Europe,  Luther's 
pamphlet  on  the  "Wittenberg  Reforma- 
tion" and  much  of  his  personal  influence 
would  have  been  abolished;  and  Sa- 
vigny's  great  "Modern  System  of 
Roman  Law"  would  not  have  enriched 
the  literature  of  jurisprudence. 
10£ 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

From  the  granaries  of  science  must 
be  extracted  some  of  their  choicest  ac- 
cumulations, including  Darwin's  famous 
"Descent  of  Man,"  hi^  "Insectivorous 
Plants,"  and  "Emotions  in  Man  and 
Animals";  Buffon's  "Natural  History 
of  Birds";  Tyndall's  "Essays  on  the 
Floating  Matter  of  the  Air";  Herbert 
Spencer's  "Factors  of  Organic  Evolu- 
tion" ;  Audubon's  "Biography  of  Amer- 
ican Quadrupeds";  Lyell's  third  great 
work,  "Antiquity  of  Man";  John  Hun- 
ter's masterpiece  on  "Blood,  Inflamma- 
tion, and  Gunshot  Wounds";  Max 
Miiller's  "Buddhist  Texts  from  Japan," 
"Science  of  Thought,"  "Lectures  on 
Natural  and  Physical  Religion,"  and 
"Anthropological  Religions" ;  La- 
grange's remarkable  work,  "Theory  of 
the  Analytical  Functions";  Biot's  en- 
larged "Elementary  Treatise  on  Phy- 
103 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

sical  Astronomy";  Galileo's  famous 
"Dialogue  with  God  upon  the  Great 
Systems  of  the  World";  Leverrier's 
tremendous  task  of  the  revision  of  the 
planetary  theories;  D'Alembert's  im- 
portant work,  "Opuscules  mathema- 
tiques";  John  Napier's  masterful 
invention  of  the  system  of  logarithms 
and  his  description  thereof, — which  is 
second  only  to  Newton's  "Principia,"— 
and  his  "Rabdologia,"  descriptive  of  the 
famous  Napier  enumerating  bones ;  and 
Faraday's  "Experimental  Researches 
in  Chemistry  and  Physics,"  and  his 
"Lectures  on  the  Chemical  History  of 
a  Candle." 

Truly  priceless  treasures  would  be 
missed  from  the  galleries  and  labora- 
tories of  art  and  music.  Michelangelo's 
celebrated  "Last  Judgment,"  the  most 
famous  single  picture  in  the  world,  and 
104 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

his  frescos  in  the  Sistine  Chapel ;  Corot's 
"Solitude,"  "Repose,"  and  other  beauti- 
ful works;  Cruikshank's  elaborate  etch- 
ing for  Brough's  "Life  of  Sir  John 
Falstaff,"  and  his  most  important  pic- 
ture, "Worship  of  Bacchus";  Titian's 
period  of  artistic  acme,  including  his 
"Battle  of  Cadore"  and  the  portraits  of 
the  twelve  Caesars;  West's  famous  can- 
vases, including  the  celebrated  "Christ 
Healing  the  Sick";  Perugino's  frescos 
in  the  Monastery  of  Sta.  Agnese  in 
Perugia;  Turner's  inimitable  "Fighting 
Temeraire,"  his  "Slave  Ship,"  and  his 
Venetian  sketches;  Meissonier's  famous 
"Friedland— 1807,"  "Cuirassier  of 
1805,"  "Moreau  and  his  staff  before 
Hohenlinden,"  "Outpost  of  the  Grand 
Guard,"  "Saint  Mark,"  and  many- 
others  of  his  works ;  Blake's  great  series 
of  engravings  illustrating  the  Book  of 
105 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

Job;  Bouguereau's  "Love  Disarmed/' 
"Love  Victorious,"  "Psyche  and  Love," 
"Holy  Women  at  the  Sepulchre,"  "Lit- 
tle Beggar  Girls,"  and  other  works; 
Hogarth's  "The  Lady's  Last  Stake," 
"Bathos,"  and  "Sigismimda  Weeping 
over  the  Heart  of  her  Murdered 
Lover";  Murillo's  series  of  pictures  in 
the  Augustinian  Convent  at  Seville 
illustrating  the  life  of  the  "glorious  doc- 
tor," and  his  able  portrait  of  the  Canon 
Justino;  Reynolds's  portraits  of  Mrs. 
Siddons  as  "The  Tragic  Muse,"  the 
Duchess  of  Devonshire  and  her  child. 
Miss  Gwatkin  as  "Simplicity,"  and 
"The  Infant  Hercules";  Landseer's 
powerful  "Swannery  Invaded  by  Sea 
Eagles"  and  his  "Pair  of  Nutcrackers" ; 
Wagner's  "Parsifal";  the  two  works  on 
which  Haydn's  claims  to  immortality 
mainly  rest,  the  oratorio,  "Creation," 
106 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

and  the  cantata,  "The  Seasons";  Verdi's 
famous  "Requiem" ;  Handel's  oratorios, 
"Judas  Maccabasus,"  "Joshua,"  "Solo- 
mon," "Susanna,"  "Theodora,"  and 
"Jephtha";  Gluck's  "Armide"  and  his 
famous  "Iphigenie  en  Tauride";  Gou- 
nod's brilliant  oratorio  "La  Redemp- 
tion," his  "Le  Tribut  de  Zamora,"  the 
oratorio  "Death  and  Life,"  and  the 
"Messe  a  la  Memoire  de  Jeanne  d'Arc" ; 
and  Meyerbeer's  "Star  of  the  North" 
and  "The  Pardon  of  Ploermel." 

The  devastation  in  the  field  of  litera- 
ture would  be  irreparable.  Now  would 
be  eliminated  Littre's  great  "Dictionary 
of  the  French  Language,"  pronounced 
the  best  lexicon  in  any  living  tongue; 
Grote's  "Plato  and  the  Other  Compan- 
ions of  Socrates" ;  Ranke's  "History  of 
England";  Grimm's  celebrated  "Corre- 
spondence litteraire" ;  Newman's  "Apo- 
107 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

logia,"  the  greatest  and  most  effective 
religious  autobiography  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  his  "Dream  of  Geron- 
tius,"  a  poem  of  great  subtlety  and 
pathos,  and  his  "Grammar  of  Assent"; 
Sydney  Smith's  trenchant  "Letters  on 
the  Ecclesiastical  Commission";  Sir 
Richard  Burton's  translation  of  the 
"Arabian  Nights";  Renan's  "History 
of  the  Israelitish  People";  Southey's 
"Doctor";  the  third  part  of  Butler's 
"Hudibras";  Grant's  "Memoirs";  Lan- 
dor's  famous  "Pericles  and  Aspasia" 
and  his  equally  famous  "Pentameron" ; 
Herbert  Spencer's  "Man  versus  the 
State"  and  "Ecclesiastical  Institu- 
tions"; Thomas  Chalmers's  noted 
"Institutes  of  Theology";  Lowell's 
"Old  English  Dramatists,"  "Hearts- 
ease and  Rue,"  and  some  of  his  "Poli- 
tical Essays" ;  John  Knox's  "Historic  of 
108 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

the  Reformation";  Carlyle's  largest 
work,  "History  of  Frederick  the 
Great";  Corneille's  "Attila"  and  "Tite 
et  Berenice";  Defoe's  "Fortunes  and 
Misfortunes  of  Moll  Flanders,"  "Jour- 
nal of  the  Plague  Year,"  "Political 
History  of  the  Devil,"  and  "System  of 
Magic";  the  second  part  of  "Don 
Quixote,"  which  is  much  superior  in 
invention  to  its  predecessor,  though 
composed  when  the  author  was  sixty- 
seven  years  of  age;  also  Cervantes's 
second  best  work,  t'Novelas  Exempla- 
res,"  and  his  most  successful  poem, 
"Voyage  to  Parnassus";  Saint-Simon's 
last  and  most  important  expression  of 
his  views,  "The  New.  Christianity"; 
Leigh  Hunt's  "Autobiography,"  "Wit 
and  Humor,"  and  "A  Jar  of  Honey 
from  Mount  Hybla";  Swift's  "Polite 
Conversation";  Schopenhauer's  "Par- 
109 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

erga  und  Paralipomena" ;  Goethe's 
"Theory  of  Color,"  his  autobiography 
"Poetry  and  Truth,  and  many  of 
his  best  poems;  Young's  "Night 
Thoughts" ;  Wordsworth's  "Evening 
Voluntaries";  Bryant's  "Letters  of  a 
Trawler";  Guizot's  "History  of  the 
British  Commonwealth";  Swedenborg's 
famous  "Arcana  Coelestia";  Bulwer 
Lytton's  "Kenehn  Chillingly,"  "The 
Coming  Race,"  and  "The  Parisians"; 
Edmund  Burke's  "Reflections  on  the 
Revolution  in  France"  and  his  splendid 
"Letters  on  a  Regicide  Peace";  Bun- 
sen's  well-known  "Bible-work,"  "Gk)d 
in  History,"  and  "Egypt's  Place  in 
Universal  History";  Wilhelm  Grimm's 
"Old  German  Dialogues";  Hugo's 
"Toilers  of  the  Sea,"  "The  Man  Who 
Laughs,"  and  "The  Terrible  Year"; 
Isaac  D'Israeli's  "Genius  of  Judaism" 
110 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

and  "Commentary  on  the  Life  and 
Reign  of  Charles  I";  Du  Maurier's 
"The  Martian";  the  second  series  of 
Matthew  Arnold's  "Essays  in  Crit- 
icism"; George  William  Curtis's  "Easy 
Chair";  Wyclif's  most  important  book, 
"Trialogus";  John  Stuart  Mills  "Essay 
onv Theism";  Huxley's  "Evolution  and 
Ethics";  Berkeley's  famous  "Common- 
Place  Book,"  one  of  the  most  valuable 
autobiographical  records  in  existence; 
many  of  Verne's  best  works,  including 
"The  Mysterious  Island";  Dean  Stan- 
ley's "Christian  Institutions,"  an  ex- 
ceedingly important  work;  Coleridge's 
famous  "Epitaph"  and  his  "Confessions 
of  an  Inquiring  Spirit";  Milton's 
"Paradise  Regained,"  "Samson  Ago- 
nistes,"  and  "History  of  Britain  to 
the  Norman  Conquest";  Condillac's 
"Logic"  and  the  important  work,  "Com- 
111 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

merce  and  Government";  Zola's  "Ve- 
rite";  Parkman's  "Montcalm  and 
Wolfe"  and  "A  Half  Century  of  Con- 
flict"; Hobbes's  masterpiece,  "Levia- 
than," and  his  famous  "Elementa 
Philosophica  de  Cive,"  "De  Corpore 
Politico,"  and  "Human  Nature";  Leib- 
nitz's celebrated  "Essais  de  Theodicee," 
his  "Monadologie,"  and  the  "Principes 
de  la  Natur  et  de  la  Grace" ;  Mommsen's 
"Provinces  of  the  Roman  Empire" ;  La- 
martine's  "History  of  the  Restoration" 
and  "History  of  Russia";  Hallam's 
"Introduction  to  the  Literature  of 
Europe" ;  Bockh's  great  work,  "History 
of  the  World-cycles  of  the  Greeks"; 
Voltaire's  unsurpassable  tale  "Can- 
dide" ;  Ruskin's  "Arrows  of  the  Chase," 
"Art  of  England,"  and  the  fascinating, 
though  unfinished  autobiography  "Prae- 
terita" ;  Milman's  great  work,  "History 
112 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

of  Latin  Christianity";  Emerson's  "So- 
ciety and  Solitude,"  his  anthology,  "Par- 
nassus," and  "Lectures  on  the  Natural 
History  of  the  Intellect" ;  Dryden's  mas- 
terful second  ode  on  "St.  Cecilia's  Day" 
and  his  translation  of  Vergil;  the  eigh- 
teen volumes  of  Lacepede's  "General, 
Physical,  and  Civil  History  of  Europe" ; 
Michelet's  monumental  work,  "History 
of  France";  Jacob  Grimm's  two 
masterpieces,  "History  of  the  German 
Language"  and  the  "Deutsches  Wor- 
terbuch";  Locke's  "Thoughts  on 
Education,"  "Vindication,"  and  "Rea- 
sonableness of  Christianity";  Francis 
Bacon's  "History  of  Henry  VII," 
"Apothegms,"  and  "History  of  Life 
and  Death";  Diderot's  "Essay  on  the 
Reigns  of  Claudius  and  Nero"; 
D'Alembert's  "Dream"  and  his  play, 
"Jacques  le  Fataliste";  Washington 
8  113 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

Irving's  "Oliver  Goldsmith"  and  "Lives 
of  Mahomet  and  his  Successors" ;  AVhit- 
tier's  "Among  the  Hills,"  "Ballads  of 
New  England,"  "Hazel  Blossoms," 
"Mabel  Martin,"  and  "Vision  of 
Echard";  Longfellow's  "New  England 
Tragedies,"  "Aftermath,"  "Hanging  of 
the  Crane,"  and  "Mask  of  Pandora"; 
Tennyson's  "Gareth  and  Lynette," 
"Last  Tournament,"  "Queen  Mary," 
"Harold,"— the  best  of  his  dramas,— 
the  lyric  "Revenge,"  "Defence  of  Luck- 
now,"  and  "The  Lover's  Tale";  Brown- 
ing's "Dramatic  Idyls,"  "The  Inn 
Album,"  and  "Aristophanes'  Apology" ; 
Holmes's  "Poet  at  the  Breakfast- 
Table,"  "Songs  of  Many  Seasons," 
"The  Iron  Gate,"  and  "Memoirs  of 
John  L.  Motley" ;  the  fourth  part  of  Le 
Sage's  "Gil  Bias" ;  Froude's  lives  of  Cae- 
sar and  Carlyle  and  "The  English  in  the 
114 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED . 

West  Indies";  Lew  Wallace's  "Prince 
of  India" ;  Lever's  "The  Bramleighs  of 
Bishop's  Folly"  and  "Lord  Kilgobbin"; 
Reade's  "A  Woman-Hater,"  "The 
Wandering  Heir,"  and  "The  Jilt"; 
Samuel  Richardson's  "Sir  Charles 
Grandison";  TroUope's  "The  Prime 
Minister,"  "The  American  Senator," 
and  "Is  He  Popenjoy?"  and  Ib- 
sen's "Iledda  Gabler,"  "The  Master 
Builder,"  "Little  Eyolf,"  "John  Ga- 
briel Borkman,"  and  "When  the  Dead 
Awake." 

BETWEEN  FIFTY  AND  SIXTY 

The  sixth  decade  of  life  has  been  most 
prolific  in  human  achievement,  and  may 
well  be  designated  as  the  age  of  the 
masterwork.  In  action  alone  its  accom- 
plishments have  revolutionized  history, 
115 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

and  it  would  be  most  difficult  to  con- 
ceive what  would  be  the  present  status 
of  the  world's  affairs  had  these  ten 
years  of  individual  life  never  existed. 
Columbus  would  not  tlien  have  made  his 
discovery  of  the  American  continent; 
Marlborough  would  not  have  won  the 
great  victory  at  Blenheim;  Morse's  in- 
vention of  the  telegraphic  alphabet 
would  have  been  lost;  Richelieu  would 
not  have  attained  supremacy  in  France 
and  concluded  the  Peace  of  West- 
phalia ;  Caesar  would  not  have  corrected 
the  calendar  or  have  written  his  "Com- 
mentaries"; Cromwell  would  not  have 
overthrown  Charles  I  and  established 
the  Protectorate  in  England;  Lincoln 
would  not  have  issued  his  Emancipation 
Proclamation;  Bright's  great  fight  in 
Parliament  for  reform  would  not  have 
been  made;  Loyola  would  not  have 
116 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

founded  the  Society  of  Jesus,  nor  Jef- 
ferson have  established  the  Democratic 
party  in  the  United  States;  Knox's 
great  work  of  the  Reformation  in  Scot- 
land would  have  been  lost;  Wyclif 
would  not  have  made  the  first  complete 
English  version  of  the  Bible,  nor 
Luther  the  first  complete  translation  of 
that  book;  Schliemann's  excavations  at 
Troy  and  elsewhere  would  not  have  en- 
riched archaeology;  Humboldt  would 
not  have  established  a  line  of  magnetic 
and  meteorologic  stations  across  north- 
ern Asia;  Galvani  would  never  have 
enunciated  his  celebrated  theory  of  ani- 
mal electricity,  nor  John  Hunter  have 
discovered  the  uteroplacental  circu- 
lation, first  ligated  successfully  the 
femoral  artery  in  the  canal  that  bears  his 
name,  and  have  built  his  famous  ana- 
tomical museum  when  generally  recog- 
117 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

nized  as  the  first  surgeon  in  England; 
Kepler  would  not  have  invented  his 
wonderful  table  of  logarithms,  nor 
Faraday  have  lived  through  his  second 
great  period  of  research  in  which  he 
discovered  the  effect  of  magnetism  on 
polarized  light  and  the  phenomenon  of 
diamagnetism.  Lord  Chesterfield's  fa- 
mous system  of  social  ethics  and  the 
Hegelian  and  Lotzian  systems  of 
philosophy  would  have  been  lost.  Leib- 
nitz would  not  have  founded  the  Acad- 
emy of  Berlin,  nor  Bunsen  have  urged 
the  unity  of  Germany.  Wellington 
would  not  have  accomplished  the  Eman- 
cipation of  the  Catholics  during  his 
primacy.  Penn  would  not  have  made 
his  famous  treaty  with  the  Indians; 
Laud  and  Cranmer  would  not  have  in- 
fluenced the  church  of  England,  and  the 
latter  have  secured  the  legalization  of 
118 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

the  marriage  of  the  clergy.  John 
Adams's  celebrated  "Defense  of  the 
American  Constitution"  would  have 
been  lost;  Washington  would  not  have 
become  the  first  President  of  the 
United  States,  nor  would  Talleyrand 
have  overthrown  the  Napoleonic  Em- 
pire, secured  the  ascension  to  the 
throne  of  Louis  XVIII,  and  achieved 
his  supreme  triumph  at  the  Congress 
of  Vienna;  Robert  E.  Lee's  services 
would  have  been  lost  to  the  Confede- 
racy, and  much  of  Von  Moltke's  re- 
markable activity  in  strategical  and 
tactical  military  affairs  would  have 
been  missed;  Herschel  would  not  have 
invented  his  great  reflecting  telescope, 
nor  have  made  his  sublime  discovery  of 
the  action  of  mechanical  laws  in  the 
movements  of  the  celestial  bodies. 
Swedenborg  would  not  have  experi- 
119 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

enced  his  religious  change  and  founded 
his  order.  Joe  Jejfferson  would  not 
have  made  the  part  of  "Bob  Acres"  a 
national  favorite,  nor  Irving  have 
reached  the  apex  of  his  career.  Guizot 
would  not  have  attained  the  primacy  of 
France  and  ruled  for  eight  years;  Peel 
would  not  have  contributed  his  master- 
work  in  improving  the  finances  of  his 
country.  Canning's  brilliant  career  in 
Parliament  would  have  been  lost,  to- 
gether with  the  formation  of  the  Triple 
Alliance  between  France,  Russia,  and 
Great  Britain  which  resulted  in  the  in- 
dependence of  Greece.  JMonroe  would 
not  have  served  through  his  administra- 
tion, Edmund  Burke  have  devised  his 
famous  India  Bill  and  secured  the  im- 
peachment of  Warren  Hastings,  nor 
Garibaldi  have  become  the  dictator  of 
Italy. 

120 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

Scientific  investigation  would  have 
been  impoverished  by  the  loss  of  Leidy's 
famous  contributions  to  biology ;  the  first 
fifteen  volumes  of  Buffon's  "Natural 
History";  Darwin's  "Fertilization  of 
Orchids"  and  "The  Habits  and  Move- 
ments of  Climbing  Plants";  Cuvier's 
magnificent  "Natural  History  of 
Fishes"  and  his  "History  and  Anat- 
omy of  Mollusks";  and  Huxley's 
"Physiography"  and  "Science  and  Cul- 
ture." Herbert  Spencer  would  not 
have  contributed  his  "Study  and  Prin- 
ciples of  Sociology,"  "Political  and 
Ceremonial  Institutions"  and  "The 
Data  of  Ethics";  Hugh  Miller's 
masterwork,  "My  Schools  and  School- 
masters," would  have  been  lost.  Saint- 
Simon^  would  not  have  written  his 
"L'Industrie"  and  "L'Organisateur" ; 
jGalileo  his  "II  Saggiatore";  La- 
121 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

grange  his  great  work  "Mecanique 
analytique";  John  Stuart  Mill  his 
"Representative  Government"  and 
"Utilitarianism";  Copernicus  his  great 
treatise  on  "The  Revolutions  of  Celes- 
tial Bodies";  Boerhaave  his  famous 
"Elements  of  Chemistry";  and  Adam 
Smith  his  masterpiece  on  the  "Wealth 
of  Nations."  Biot's  "Researches  in 
Ancient  Astronomy"  would  have  been 
lost,  as  would  also  Condillac's  "Study 
of  History"  and  his  "Treatise  on  Ani- 
mals," Sir  Richard  Burton's  "Zanzibar" 
and  "Gold  Mines  of  Midian,"  and 
Rennell's  celebrated  "Geographical 
System  of  Herodotus."  Faraday  would 
not  have  published  the  first  two  volumes 
of  his  "Experimental  Researches  in 
Electricity,"  Diderot  would  not  have 
prepared  the  main  part  of  his  great 
French  encyclopedia,  nor  Tyndall  have 
1S2 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

written  the  "Use  and  Limit  of  Imagi- 
nation in  Science." 

Many  famous  pictures  would  be 
missed  from  the  galleries  of  the  world, 
including  Velasquez's  great  portrait  of 
Innocent  X,  which  was  pronounced  by 
Reynolds  the  finest  picture  in  Rome; 
his  famous  portrait  of  Pareja;  the  mas- 
terful "Spinners,"  the  splendid  "Venus 
and  Cupid,"  "Maids  of  Honor,"  and 
many  other  of  his  works ;  some  of  Rey- 
nolds's best  work ;  Cruikshank's  tragical 
and  powerful  series  of  pictures  for  "The 
Bottle";  Perugino's  masterpiece,  "Ma- 
donna and  Saints,"  in  the  Certosa  of 
Pavia,  and  his  wonderful  paintings  in 
the  audience-hall  of  the  Guild  of  Bank- 
ers of  Perugia;  Leonardo  da  Vinci's 
famous  "Battle  of  the  Standard,"  de- 
signed when  the  artist  was  the  most  fa- 
mous painter  of  Italy;  Gainsborough's 
1^ 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

most  noted  work,  the  "Duchess  of 
Devonshire";  Romney's  famous  "In- 
fant Shakespeare  attended  by  the 
Passions,"  and  "Milton  and  his  Daugh- 
ters" ;  the  most  brilliant  works  of  Rem- 
brandt, including  his  masterpiece, 
"Syndics  of  the  Cloth  Hall,"  "Jewish 
Bride,"  and  the  "Family  Group  of 
Brunswick";  Corot's  famous  "Sunset  in 
the  Tyrol,"  "Dance  of  the  Nymphs," 
"Dante  and  Vergil,"  "Macbeth,"  and 
"Hagar  in  the  Desert";  Titian's  "Ve- 
nus" of  Florence,  and  "St.  Peter  Mar- 
tyr"; West's  "Death  of  Wolfe"  and 
the  noted  "Penn's  Treaty  with  the 
Indians" ;  Tintoretto's  magnificent 
"Plague  of  Serpents,"  "Moses  Striking 
the  Rock,"  and  many  of  his  memorable 
paintings,  including  the  four  extraor- 
dinary masterpieces,  "Bacchus  and 
Ariadne,"  "Three  Graces  and  Mercury," 
124) 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

"Minerva  discarding  Mars,"  and  the 
"Forge  of  Vulcan";  Constable's  famous 
"Valley  Farm";  the  best  of  Turner's 
work,  including  "Ulysses  Deriding 
Polyphemus,*"  "Bridge  of  Sighs," 
"Ducal  Palace,"  and  "Custom  House, 
Venice";  Landseer's  excellent  "Flood 
in  the  Highlands,"  "Deer  in  Repose," 
and  "Deer  Browsing";  Hogarth's  ad- 
mirable prints  of  an  "j^lection,"  "Paul 
before  Felix,"  "Moses  brought  to  Pha- 
raoh's Daughter,"  and  "Gate  of 
Calais";  Rubens's  equestrian  picture  of 
Philip  IV,  "Banqueting  House  at 
Whitehall,"  "Feast  of  Venus,"  the  por- 
traits of  Helena  Fourment,  and  over 
forty  pictures  in  Spain;  Millet's  "The 
Knitting  Lesson,"  "November,"  and 
"Buttermaking" ;  Meissonier's  "Desaix 
and  the  Army  of  the  Rhine" ;  and  Bou- 
guereau's  well-known  "Youth  of  Bac- 
125 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

chus,"  "Mater  Afflictomm,"  "The  Birth 
of  Venus,"  "Girl  Defending  Herself 
from  Love,"  and  "The  Scourging  of 
our  Lord." 

From  the  musical  conservatories 
would  be  taken  Spohr's  great  work, 
"The  Fall  of  Babylon";  Meyerbeer's 
famous  production,  "The  Prophet"; 
Verdi's  "Don  Carlos"  and  the  great 
"Aida";  Gluck's  superb  ''Alceste"  and 
"Paris  and  Helen";  Handel's  great 
oratorios,  "The  Messiah,"  "Saul," 
"Israel  in  Egypt," "Samson,"  "Joseph," 
"Belshazzar,"  and  "Hercules";  Bach's 
magnificent  "Mass  in  B  minor,"  pro- 
nounced one  of  the  greatest  master- 
pieces of  all  time;  Beethoven's  famous 
"Choral  Symphonies";  Brahms's  su- 
preme achievement,  the  four  "Ernste 
Gesange";  and  Wagner's  "Ring  of  the 
Nibelung"  and  "Die  Meistersinger." 
126 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

And  what  shall  we  miss  from  the 
bookshelves  ?  Priceless  treasures  in  very 
truth.  The  works  of  Aristotle  and 
Plato;  Kant's  "Critique  of  Pure  Rea- 
son"; Bacon's  celebrated  "Novum 
Organum";  Locke's  famous  "Essay 
Concerning  Human  Understanding" ; 
the  second  part  of  Butler's  "Hudibras" ; 
Raleigh's  prison-written  "History  of 
the  World";  Reade's  "Foul  Play"  and 
"Put  Yourself  in  His  Place";  the  last 
volume  of  Niebuhr's  "History  of 
Rome";  George  Fox's  "Journal";  Bun- 
yan's  "Holy  War"  and  the  second  part 
of  "The  Pilgrim's  Progress"  r  Haw- 
thorne's second  masterpiece,  "The 
Marble  Faun";  La  Rochefoucauld's 
famous  "Maxims";  Boswell's  "Life  of 
Johnson";  the  third  book  of  Mon- 
taigne's "Essays";  Voltaire's  wonderful 
"Philosophical  Dictionary"  and  his  fa- 
1«7 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

mous  "Diatribe  du  Docteur  Akakia"; 
Sir  Edwin  Arnold's  "Light  of  the 
World"  and  "With  Sa'di  in  the  Gar- 
den"; Erasmus's  celebrated  "Col- 
loquia";  Dickens's  "Our  Mutual 
Friend"  and  "Mystery  of  Edwin 
Drood";  Keble's  famous  "Lyra  Inno- 
centium";  Dryden's  best  play,  "Don 
Sebastian,"  and  his  opera  "Albion  and 
Albanius" ;  Hay's  (collaborated)  life  of 
Lincoln;  Chateaubriand's  "Les  Nat- 
chez"; Boucicault's  "The  Shaughraun," 
and  the  beautiful  "Daddy  O'Dowd"; 
Grote's  celebrated  "History  of  Greece"; 
the  second  volume  of  Penn's  "Fruits  of 
Solitude";  Chalmers's  work  on  "Poli- 
tical Economy";  Dean  Stanley's  "His- 
torical Memorials  of  Westminster 
Abbey";  Goethe's  "Naturliche  Toch- 
ter"  and  the  first  part  of  "Faust";  the 
first  series  of  Landor's  "Imaginary 
128 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

Conversations";  the  third  part  of  "Gil 
Bias";  "Robinson  Crusoe";  Rousseau's 
celebrated  "Confessions";  "Ben  Hur"; 
the  last  two  volumes  of  Macaulay's 
"History  of  England";  Lamartine's 
greatest  prose  work,  "History  of  the 
Girondins";  Cowper's  "Task";  "The 
Divine  Comedy";  "Paradise  Lost"; 
"Canterbury  Tales";  "Les  Miserables"; 
the  first  part  of  "Don  Quixote";  Free- 
man's "Ottoman  Power  in  Europe" 
and  his  famous  "The  Reign  of  William 
Rufus";  the  second  collection  of  La 
Fontaine's  "Fables,"  pronounced  di- 
vine; "Gulliver's  Travels,"  and  the 
"Drapier's  Letters,"  Swift's  greatest 
political  triumph ;  Sainte-Beuve's 
"Study  of  Vergil"  and  the  final  and 
best  series  of  the  "Monday"  articles;  the 
last  seven  volumes  of  Sterne's  "Trist- 
ram Shandy";  Gibbon's  delightful 
»  129 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

"Memoirs";  Zola's  famous  "Debacle" 
and  "Fecundity";  Montesquieu's  mas- 
terwork,  "L'Esprit  des  lois";  Ibsen's 
"A  Doll  House,"  "Ghosts,"  and  "Ros- 
mersholm" ;  many  of  Matthew  Arnold's 
best  essays;  Racine's  masterpiece, 
"Athalie";  Livingstone's  "Narrative  of 
an  Expedition  to  the  Zambesi'^;  Dodg- 
son's  "Mathematica  Curiosa"  and 
"Rhjrme  and  Reason";  Du-Maurier's 
"Trilby"  and  "Peter  Ibbetsen";  Leigh 
Hunt's  "Captain  Sword  and  Captain 
Pen,"  "Legend  of  Florence,"  and  the 
charming  "Imagination  and  Fancy"; 
the  most  singular  of  Lever's  works, 
"Life's  Romance";  Samuel  Richard- 
son's "Pamela"  and  his  masterpiece, 
"Clarissa  Harlowe";  Hood's  "Song  of 
the  Shirt"  and  "Bridge  of  Sighs";  the 
third  volume  of  Isaac  D'Israeli's  "Curi- 
osities of  Literature";  Moliere's  bril- 
130 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

liant  "Le  malade  imaginaire" ;  Francis 
Parkman's  "The  Old  Regime  in 
Canada"  and  "Count  Frontenac  and 
New  France  under  Louis  XIV";  Cor- 
neille's  "Discourses  on  Dramatic 
Poetry"  and  his  "CEdipe,"  "Sopho- 
nisbe"  and  "Sertorius";  Berkeley's  cele- 
brated "Siris";  Comte's  greatest  work, 
"System  of  Positive  Polity,"  and  his 
"Catechism  of  Positivism";  Froude's 
"Enghsh  in  Ireland";  Ranke's  "His- 
tory of  Prussia"  and  "History  of 
France  in  the  Sixteenth  and  Seven- 
teenth Centuries";  Browning's  "Rabbi 
Ben  Ezra,"  and  his  masterpiece,  "The 
Ring  and  the  Book";  Max  Miiller's 
"Origin  and  Growth  of  Religion"  and 
"Selected  Essays  on  Language,  My- 
thology, and  Religion";  Ruskin's 
"Proserpina,"  "Deucalion,"  and  "Lec- 
tures on  Art" ;  Descartes's  essay  on  the 
131 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

"Passions  of  the  Mind";  Lowell's 
"Among  My  Books"  and  "My  Study 
Windows";  Prescott's  "Conquest  of 
Peru"  and  "History  of  Philip  IV"; 
Cooper's  "The  Deerslayer"  and  "The 
Two  Admirals";  Michelet's  "History 
of  the  French  Revolution"  and 
"Women  of  the  Revolution";  Wash- 
ington Irving's  "Astoria";  Bulwer 
Lytton's  "A  Strange  Story";  Cole- 
ridge's "Aids  to  Reflection  in  the 
Formation  of  a  Manly  Character"; 
Emerson's  "English  Traits"  and  "Con- 
duct of  Life";  Renan's  "Marcus  Aure- 
lius"  and  his  "Evangelists";  Whittier's 
"In  War-Time,"  "Snow-bound,"  "Maud 
Muller,"  and  "National  Lyrics";  Ten- 
nyson's "Enoch  Arden,"  "The  Holy 
Grail,"  and  "Lucretius";  Longfellow's 
"The  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish," 
"Tales  of  a  Wayside  Inn,"  "Birds  of 
132 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

Passage,"  and  "The  Children's  Hour"; 
Holmes's  "The  Professor  at  the  Break- 
fast-Table," "Elsie  Venner,"  and 
"Humorous  Poems" ;  Machiavelli's 
"Art  of  War,"  "History  of  Florence," 
and  the  powerful  play,  "Mandragola" ; 
Ben  Jonson's  "The  Staple  of  News" 
and  "The  New  Inn";  Wordsworth's 
"Ecclesiastical  Sketches";  Scott's  last 
novels,  "Woodstock,"  "The  Fair  Maid 
of  Perth,"  "Chronicles  of  the  Canon- 
gate,"  and  "Anne  of  Geierstein";  Jean 
Paul  Richter's  "Comet";  and  a  host  of 
other  standard  works. 


BETWEEN   FORTY  AND  FIFTY 

Finally^  the  elimination  of  the  fifth 
decade  of  life  would  cause  tremendous 
inroads  upon  the  already  sadly  depleted 
records  of  human  achievement.  John 
133 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

Gutenberg  would  not  have  invented  the 
art  of  printing  from  type,  nor  Franklin 
invented  the  lightning-rod.  Humboldt 
would  not  have  devised  the  system  of 
isothermal  lines,  nor  Galvani'the  metallic 
arc,  nor  would  the  latter  have  made  his 
discovery  of  dynamic  electricity.  Priest- 
ley would  not  have  discovered  oxygen, 
nor  Jenner  have  made  his  wonderful  in- 
oculation for  smallpox,  nor  Harvey  have 
announced  his  discovery  of  the  circula- 
tion of  the  blood.  Bessemer  would  not 
have  invented  his  pneumatic  process  for 
the  manufacture  of  steel,  Watt  the 
double  acting  steam-engine,  nor  Ste- 
phenson have  instituted  the  modern  era 
of  railways.  The  colonies  would  have 
forfeited  the  invaluable  services  of 
Washington  in  the  Revolutionary  War ; 
Morris  would  not  have  been  the  finan- 
cial support  of  the  Government;  Jay 
134 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

would  not  have  become  the  first  Chief- 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States;  Hungary  would  have 
lost  the  statesmanship  of  Kossuth ;  Tal- 
leyrand would  not  have  accomplished 
his  diplomatic  career,  nor  Webster  his 
great  Congressional  record ;  Peel  would 
not  have  made  his  great  speech  on  Cath- 
olic Emancipation;-  Monroe  would  not 
have  negotiated  the  Louisiana  Pur- 
chase; and  Calhoun  would  not  have 
become  the  author  of  the  doctrine 
of  "nullification,"  to  which  the  Civil 
War  may  be  traced.  Grant  would 
not  have  won  his  great  victories  of 
the  Civil  War,  nor  would  Sherman 
have  achieved  his  military  fame.  Wren 
would  not  have  designed  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral.  France  would  have  lost 
the  services  of  Maret  and  Cardinal 
Mazarin.  Cavour  would  not  have 
136 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

become  the  virtual  ruler  of  Italy 
and  convened  the  first  Italian  Par- 
liament, nor  would  Savonarola  have 
become  the  lawgiver  of  Florence. 
Blackstone  would  not  have  prepared  his 
"Commentaries";  Nelson  would  not 
have  won  the  battle  of  Trafalgar,  nor 
Cromwell  his  victories  at  Marston  Moor 
and  Naseby.  Cardinal  Wolsey  would 
not  have  enjoyed  his  successful  career; 
Boerhaave  would  not  have  introduced 
the  system  of  clinical  instruction  into 
the  study  of  medicine.  Richard  Henry 
Lee  would  not  have  suggested  holding 
the  Continental  Congress,  and  thereby 
have  strongly  incited  to  the  revolution 
of  the  Colonies.  Luther  would  not  have 
published  the  famous  Augsburg  Con- 
fession, nor  Knox  have  become  a  Prot- 
estant and  begun  the  Reformation  in 
Scotland.  Bright  would  not  have  made 
136 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

his  great  speech  on  the  Crimean  War, 
nor  Turgot  have  accomplished  his  mag- 
nificent work  in  France  as  Minister  of 
Finance ;  RicheHeu  would  not  have  had 
his  famous  military  and  diplomatic 
career;  Wellington  would  have  missed 
his  campaign  in  Spain  and  would  not 
have  overthrown  Napoleon  at  Waterloo ; 
Reynolds  would  not  have  founded  the 
Royal  Academy  and  have  become  its 
first  president;  Edmund  Burke  would 
not  have  made  his  great  speech  on  Con- 
ciliation; Bunsen  have  accomplished  his 
diplomatic  career  in  Italy ;  nor  Palmer- 
ston  have  lived  through  the  most  impor- 
tant and  successful  period  of  his  life, 
during  which  he  placed  Leopold  upon 
the  throne  of  Belgium.  Macready,  Irv- 
ing, and  Forrest  would  not  have  attained 
the  height  of  their  power,  nor  would  La 
SaUe  have  explored  the  Mississippi,  Liv- 
137 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

ingstone  have  made  the  Zambesi  expe- 
dition and  discovered  the  Victoria  Falls, 
nor  Champlain  have  founded  Quebec 
and  established  the  French  power  in 
lower  Canada. 

Science  would  lose  Huxley's  "Anat- 
omy of  Vertebrates  and  Invertebrates" ; 
Darwin's  "Origin  of  Species";  Hugh 
Miller's  "The  Footprints  of  the  Cre- 
ator"; Lacepede's  "Natural  History  of 
Fishes";  Herbert  Spencer's  "Principles 
of  Biology"  and  his  "Synthetic  Philos- 
ophy"; GeofFroy  Saint-Hilaire's  cele- 
brated "Anatomical  Philosophy";  Von 
Baer's  "Development  of  Fishes"  and 
"History  of  the  Evolution  of  Animals" ; 
Linnaeus's  masterwork,  "Species  Plan- 
tarum";  Cope's  famous  work  in  pale- 
ontology; Agassiz's  great  work  on 
"Zoology" ;  Lamarck's  famous  "Botan- 
ical Dictionary"  and  his  invention  of  the 
138 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

name  "invertebrate";  Newton's  monu- 
mental "Principia" ;  the  first  volume  of 
Audubon's  "Birds  of  America";  Kep- 
ler's extraordinary  production,  "Celes- 
tial Harmonics,"  and  his  "Stereometria 
Doliorum,"  which  entitles  him  to  rank 
among  those  who  prefaced  the  discovery 
of  the  infinitesimal  calculus;  Rennell's 
great  work,  "Memoir  of  a  Map  of  Hin- 
dustan" ;  Tyndall's  studies  on  heat-radi- 
ation and  his  "Natural  Philosophy"  and 
"Dust  and  Disease";  Diderot's  monu- 
mental "Encyclopedia";  D'Alembert's 
"Elements  of  Philosophy";  Hegel's  fa- 
mous "Science  of  Logic";  Berkeley's 
"Alciphron"  and  "The  Analyst";  Des- 
cartes's  "Discourse  on  Method,"  "Medi- 
tations on  the  First  Philosophy,"  and 
"Principia  Philosophise,"  all  great 
works;  Lotze's  fine  work,  "Mikrokos- 
mos";  Biot's  magnificent  "Treatise  on 
139 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

Experimental  Physics" ;  Lyell's  famous 
"Elements  of  Geology";  Lavoisier's 
"Method  of  Chemical  Nomenclature'*; 
and  Laplace's  celebrated  "Celestial  Me- 
chanics," which  contains  his  enunciation 
of  the  nebular  hypothesis.  Lagrange 
would  not  have  published  his  theory  of 
cometary  perturbations;  Dalton  have 
originated  the  volumetric  method  of 
chemical  analysis;  Galileo  have  .solved 
the  riddle  of  the  Milky  Way,  discovered 
the  satellites  of  Jupiter,  and  the  triple 
form  of  Saturn,  and  have  published 
his  famous  "Sidereus  Nuncius";  nor 
Herschel  have  discovered  Uranus,  and 
have  begun  the  most  important  series  of 
observations  culminating  in  his  capital 
discovery  of  the  relative  distances  of  the 
stars  from  the  sun  and  from  one  an- 
other. 

The  art-galleries  would  have  lost  Tin- 
140 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

toretto's  magnificent  "Crucifixion"; 
many  of  Gainsborough's  finest  por- 
traits; Leonardo  da  Vinci's  "Last  Sup- 
per," the  thh*d  most  celebrated  picture 
in  the  world;  the  best  of  Du  Maurier's 
illustrations ;  Dore's  illustrations  for  the 
"Ancient  Mariner";  Velasquez's  "Sur- 
render of  Breda,"  one  of  the  greatest  of 
historical  paintings;  Perugino's  cele- 
brated "Pieta" ;  Cruikshank's  famous  il- 
lustrations for  Dickens  and  Ains worth; 
Rubens's  pictures  illustrating  the  life  of 
Maria  de'  Medici,  and  his  magnificent 
"Assumption  of  the  Virgin"  and  "The 
Massacre  of  the  Innocents";  Millet's 
"Angelus,"  "The  Man  with  the  Hoe," 
and  "The  Gleaners";  Meissonier's 
"Reading  at  Diderot's";  Rembrandt's 
greatest  works,  including  the  famous 
"Portrait  of  Jan  Six,"  "John  the  Bap- 
tist in  the  Wilderness,"  and  "Jacob 
141 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

Blessing  the  Sons  of  Joseph";  Blake's 
illustrations  for  Blair's  "Grave" ;  West's 
famous  "Death  on  the  Pale  Horse"; 
Turner's  "Decline  of  the  Carthaginian 
Empire,"  "Hostages  Leaving  Carthage 
for  Rome,"  and  his  paintings  for  the 
"Rivers  of  England";  Titian's  "As- 
sumption of  the  Madonna,"  one  of  the 
most  world-renowned  masterpieces,  the 
famous  "Bacchus  and  Ariadne,"  "En- 
tombment of  Christ,"  "St.  Sebastian," 
and  "The  Three  Ages";  Durer's  mas- 
terwork,  "Adoration  of  the  Trinity  by 
all  the  Saints";  Hogarth's  admirable 
"Strolling  Actresses,"  the  famous 
"Marriage  a  la  Mode,"  and  the  series  of 
twelve  plates,  "Industry  and  Idleness"; 
Paul  Veronese's  "Feast  of  Simon  the 
Leper,"  "Feast  of  Levi,"  and  "Venice 
Triumphant" ;  Murillo's  "Jleturn  of  the 
Prodigal,"  "Moses  Striking  the  Rock," 
142 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

and  "St.  Elizabeth  of  Hungary";  and 
Landseer's  well-known  "Stag  at  Bay," 
"Sanctuary,"  "Monarch  of  the  Glen," 
and  "Peace  and  War."  In  music  must 
be  noted  the  loss  of  Meyerbeer's  "Les 
Huguenots";  Handel's  oratorios,  "De- 
borah" and  "Athalia";  Liszt's  "Third 
Symphonic  Poem";  Wagner's  "Tristan 
und  Isolde";  Beethoven's  pastorals  and 
his  grand  "Missa  Solemnis";  Bach's 
"Christmas  Oratorio";  Rossini's  great 
"Stabat  Mater" ;  Gounod's  "Faust"  and 
"Romeo  et  Juliette";  the  greatest  of 
Spohr's  sacred  compositions,  "The  Last 
Judgment"  and  his  oratorio,  "The  Cru- 
cifixion"; and  Gluck's  "Orfeo  ed  Eu- 
ridice." 

From  literature  would  be  missing  all 
of  Shakspere's  masterpieces  and  most  of 
his  plays;  the  last  three  books  of  Spen- 
ser's "Faerie  Queene"  and  the  magnifi- 
143 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

cent  "Epithalamion" ;  Rabelais's  "Pan- 
tagruel"  and  "Gargantua";  Coleridge's 
"Kubla  Khan"  and  "Christabel" ;  John 
Stuart  Mill's  masterful  "Political  Econ- 
omy"; Kingsley's  "Water-babies";  De- 
foe's famous  "Mrs.  Veal";  Le  Sage's 
"Turcaret,"  one  of  the  best  comedies  in 
French  literature ;  Samuel  Johnson's  fa- 
mous "Rasselas"  and  his  "Dictionary  of 
the  English  Language";  Rousseau's 
"La  Nouvelle  Heloise";  "The  Wander- 
ing Jew";  most  of  Scott's  novels;  Em- 
erson's "Representative  Men"  and  the 
second  volume  of  his  "Essays";  Whit- 
tier's  "Voices  of  Freedom"  and  "Songs 
of  Labor";  Rossetti's  masterpiece, 
"Dante's  Dream"  and  his  "Rose 
Mary";  Racine's  famous  "Esther"; 
Jonathan  Edwards's  "Freedom  of  the 
Will" ;  many  of  Beranger's  songs ;  Bur- 
ton's marvelous  "Anatomy  of  Melan- 
144 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

choly";  most  of  Addison's  essays, 
including  his  creation,  "Sir  Roger  de 
Coverly";  "Mrs.  Caudle's  Curtain  Lec- 
tures"; Wordsworth's  "Excursion"; 
Gibbon's  "Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Ro- 
man Empire"  and  his  able  "Memoire 
Justificatif " ;  Hume's  "History  of  Eng- 
land"; Dodgson's  "The  Hunting  of  the 
Snark";  Hallam's  "Middle  Ages"  and 
"Constitutional  History  of  England"; 
"The  Scarlet  Letter,"  "Mosses  from  an 
Old  Manse,"  "The  House  of  the  Seven 
Gables,"  "The  Blithedale  Romance," 
and  "Tanglewood  Tales";  Carlyle's 
"The  French  Revolution"  and  "Oliver 
Cromwell's  Letters  and  Speeches"; 
Pope's  "Essay  on  Man";  the  first  two 
parts  of  "Hudibras";  the  first  portion 
of  Bancroft's  "History,"  and  of  Momm- 
sen's  monumental  "Corpus  Inscrip- 
tionum  Latinarum";  Lew  Wallace's 
^<»  145 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

"The  Fair  God";  Lamartine's  "Souve- 
nirs of  the  East";  Ranke's  "Roman  Pa- 
pacy" and  "History  of  Germany  in  the 
Time  of  the  Reformation";  Boehm's 
great  "Theologia  Germanica" ;  most  of 
Boucicault's  plays;  "Lorna  Doone"  and 
"The  Maid  of  Sker";  the  first  two  vol- 
umes of  Macaulay's  "History  of  Eng- 
land" and  his  "Lays  of  Ancient  Rome"; 
Washington  Irving's  "Conquest  of 
Granada"  and  "Life  of  Columbus"; 
Bulwer  Lytton's  "Harold,"  "The  Cax- 
tons,"  and  "My  Novel";  the  first  two 
books  of  Montaigne's  "Essays";  La 
Rochefoucauld's  "Memoirs" ;  Trol- 
lope's  excellent  "Barchester  Towers"; 
Ebers's  "Homo  Sum,"  "The  Sisters," 
"The  Emperor,"  and  "Serapis";  Schil- 
ler's "Maria  Stuart"  and  his  great "  Wil- 
hehn  Tell";  Petrarch's  famous  "Epistle 
to  Posterity";  the  first  volume  of 
146 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

Thiers's  "History  of  the  Consulate  and 
the  Empire";  "Henry  Esmond,"  "The 
Newcomes,"  and  "The  Virginians"; 
Verne's  "Twenty  Thousand  Leagues 
Under  the  Sea,"  "Around  the  World  in 
Eighty  Days,"  and  "Hector  Serva- 
dac";  Lowell's  "Fireside  Travels"  and 
the  second  series  of  "The  Biglow  Pa- 
pers"; "The  Song  of  Hiawatha,"  "The 
Golden  Legend,"  and  "Kavanagh"; 
Isaac  D'Israeli's  "Calamities"  and 
"Quarrels  of  Authors";  "A  Tale  of 
Two  Cities,"  "Hard  Times,"  "Uncom- 
mercial Traveller,"  "Great  Expecta- 
tions," "Little  Dorrit,"  and  "Bleak 
House";  Sir  Edwin  Arnold's  "Light 
of  Asia";  Schopenhauer's  "Will  in 
Nature";  Motley's  "Rise  of  the  Dutch 
Republic"  and  "History  of  the  United 
Netherlands";  "The  Deserted  Village" 
and  "She  Stoops  to  Conquer";  Gray's 
147 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

great  odes,  "The  Bard"  and  "Progress 
of  Poetry";  Prescott's  "Ferdinand  and 
Isabella"  and  "Conquest  of  Mexico"; 
JVIilman's  "History  of  Christianity  un- 
der the  Empire";  "Handy  Andy"  and 
"Treasure  Trove";  Du  ChaiUu's  "Land 
of  the  Midnight  Sun";  "Pilgrim's 
Progress";  "Monte  Cristo"  and  "The 
Three  Musketeers";  Henry  Fielding's 
"History  of  Tom  Jones"  and  "Ame- 
lia"; Daudet's  famous  "Sapho"  and 
"Port-Tarascon" ;  Balzac's  "Modeste 
Mignon"  and  "Beatrix";  Steele's  fa- 
mous political  paper,  "The  Plebeian," 
and  his  successful  comedy,  "The  Con- 
scious Lovers";  Michelet's  "History  of 
the  Roman  Republic"  and  "The  Jesu- 
its"; Condorcet's  lives  of  Turgot  and 
Voltaire  and  his  famous  "Historic  Table 
of  the  Progress  of  the  Human  Soul"; 
Farrar's  lives  of  Christ  and  St.  Paul; 
148 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

"The  Moonstone"  and  "The  New  Mag- 
dalen"; Matthew  Arnold's  "Essays  in 
Criticism,"  "St.  Paul  and  Protestant- 
ism," "Literature  and  Dogma,"  and 
many  of  his  poems;  Spurgeon's  "Com- 
mentary on  the  Psalms";  Corneille's 
"Heraclius,"  "Nicomede,"  and  "An- 
dromede";  the  first  collection  of  La 
Fontaine's  "Fables"  and  the  famous 
"Books  of  the  Contes" ;  Dryden's  "Mar- 
riage a  la  Mode,"  "Love  in  a  Nunnery," 
"CEdipus,"  and  his  best  drama,  "All  for 
Love";  Cooper's  "The  Pathfinder,"  and 
"The  Bravo";  Ben  Jonson's  "Book  of 
Epigrams" ;  Richter's  masterpiece, 
"Flegeljahre";  Reade's  "Never  Too 
Late  to  Mend,"  "The  Cloister  and  the 
Hearth,"  and  "Hard  Cash";  Tenny- 
son's "In  Memoriam,"  "Charge  of  the 
Light  Brigade,"  "Maud,"  and  "Idylls 
of  the  King";  WiUis's  "People  I  Have 
149 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY, 

Met"  and  "Famous  Persons  and 
Places";  Lessing's  "History  and  Liter- 
ature" and  "Nathan  the  Wise";  Eras- 
mus's "Adagia"  and  "Edition  of  the 
Greek  Testament  with  Corrected  Latin 
Version  and  Notes";  Voltaire's  "La 
Pucelle";  Ruskin's  fifth  volume  of 
"Modern  Painters,"  his  popular  "Ses- 
ame and  Lilies,"  "Ethics  of  the  Dust," 
and  "Crown  of  Wild  Olives";  Dean 
Alford's  Edition  of  the  Greek  Testa- 
ment, with  running  commentary; 
Fichte's  remarkable  "Treatise  on  Sci- 
ence"; the  first  series  of  Sainte-Beuve's 
celebrated  "Monday"  articles;  Machia- 
velli's  famous  "II  Principe";  Chateau- 
briand's "Rene"  and  "Adventures  of 
the  Last  of  the  Abencerages" ;  Max  Miil- 
ler's  "Chips  from  a  German  Work- 
shop" and  "Introduction  to  the  Science 
of  Rehgion";  Leibnitz's  "History  of 
150 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

the  Brunswick-Luneburg  Family" ;  the 
first  and  second  volumes  of  Froude's 
"History  of  England";  Hohnes's  "The 
Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast-Table"; 
Freeman's  masterpiece,  "History  of  the 
Norman  Conquest";  Chalmers's  cele- 
brated work  in  defense  of  endowment, 
literary  and  ecclesiastical;  most  of 
Watt's  hymns;  Goethe's  "Tasso,"  his 
great  "Wilhelm  Meisters  Lehrjahre" 
and  the  noted  "Hermann  und  Doro- 
thea" ;  Parkman's  "Pioneers  of  France 
in  the  New  World,"  "Jesuits  in  North 
America,"  and  "The  Discovery  of  the 
Great  West";  Guizot's  famous  "His- 
tory of  Civilization  in  France" ;  the  best 
of  Moliere's  works;  Thomson's  "Castle 
of  Indolence";  Fenelon's  famous  "Ad- 
ventures of  Telemaque";  the  first  and 
second  volumes  of  Stanley's  "History 
of  the  Jewish  Church"  and  his  "Sinai 
161 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

and  Palestine" ;  the  first  six  volumes  of 
Sterne's  "Tristram  Shandy."  and  the 
first  series  of  "Sermons  by  Yorick"; 
Penn's  "History  of  the  Quakers"  and 
the  first  volume  of  "Fruits  of  Soli- 
tude" ;  and  Young's  "Love  of  Fame  the 
Universal  Passion/* 

SUMMARY 

What  more  need  be  said?  Were  the 
impossible  to  come  to  pass,  and  the  work 
of  the  veterans  of  life  subtracted  from 
the  "sum  of  human  achievement,"  the 
world  would  not  be  virtually  where  it  is 
to-day.  Well  has  the  gist  of  the  matter 
been  condensed  in  the  words  of  a  medi- 
cal contemporary : 

"In  one  respect  at  least  the  man  of  in- 
tellectual capacity  and  pursuits  is  much 
better  off  than  his  brother  who  works 
152 


WHAT  WE  MIGHT  HAVE  MISSED 

with  his  hands.  In  the  world  of  manual 
labor  the  pitiful  dictum  seems  well  es- 
tablished that  at  forty  the  laborer  is  *a 
dead  one' ;  he  must  not  hope  for  employ- 
ment or  a  wage  after  that  period.  The 
intellectual  man,  however,  despite  the 
expression  of  a  famous  colleague,  main- 
tains the  vigor  of  his  mind  unabated 
almost  until  he  is  ready  to  step  into  his 
grave ;  and  if  by  this  means  he  gains  his 
livelihood,  then  need  he  not  fear  the  lack 
of  employment  or  emoluments  even 
though  his  years  be  far  advanced." 


153 


CHAPTER  VI 

GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

ONE  of  the  noted  brain  specialists  of 
the  present  day,  himself  a  man  of 
much  more  than  ordinary  ability.  Profes- 
sor Horatio  C.  Wood  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  has  been  credited  with 
the  statement  that  "every  man  of  genius 
is  insane,"  but,  as  the  distinguished 
southern  physician,  L.  G.  Pedigo,  has 
shown,  the  popular  association  of  genius 
with  insanity  can  be  traced  to  the  earliest 
periods  of  antiquity.  Thus,  while  Dry- 
den  wrote,  "Great  wit  to  madness  nearly 
is  allied,"  the  philosophic  Aristotle,  who 
was  as  close  an  observer  as  he  was  a 
great  philosopher  and  thinker,  re- 
154 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

marked:  "Men,  illustrious  in  poetry, 
politics,  and  arts,  have  often  been  mel- 
ancholic and  mad  like  Ajax,  or  misan- 
thropic like  Bellerophon."  These  men 
but  voiced  a  general  observation,  and  it 
must  be  conceded,  therefore,  that  the  high 
degree  of  mentality  popularly  desig- 
nated as  genius  is  acquired,  or  possessed, 
at  the  expense  of  perfect  mental  equi- 
hbrium. 

What  is  actually  meant  by  this  popu- 
lar idea  can  be  more  scientifically 
expressed  as  a  lack  of  balance  in  the 
cerebrational  powers  due  to  an  exces- 
sive specialization  with  a  corresponding 
over-development  of  a  certain  few  of 
the  brain  cells.  As  a  consequence  of 
this  over-stimulation  of  a  limited  por- 
tion of  the  brain  with  a  necessary  neg- 
lect of  the  rest,  brilliancy  of  intellect  in 
one  direction  may  be  most  incongru- 
155 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

ously  associated  with  deficient  judg- 
ment in  another  direction,  while  the  most 
unexpected  and  "sulphitic"  manifesta- 
tions of  brain  power  will  often  astonish 
and  delight  the  associates  of  these  men 
of  genius.  So  long  as  these  scintilla- 
tions of  wit  do  not  assume  outre  charac- 
ters or  become  morbid  in  their  effects 
upon  their  originators  or  hearers,  they 
must  be  regarded  as  entirely  physiologic, 
and  they  then  become  the  most  desirable 
traits  of  genius.  It  is  to  these  brilliant 
men  and  women  that  we  owe  the  bons 
mots  of  literature  and  the  bewildering 
strokes  of  genius  that  have  revolution- 
ized the  sciences  and  the  arts.  These 
individuals  become  the  gifted  orators, 
the  spell-binding  writers,  the  renowned 
statesmen,  and  the  wizard-like  inventors 
and  "doers  of  deeds."  Often  they  are 
brilliant  in  spite  of  themselves,  and  are 
166 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

as  astounded  at  their  accomplishments 
as  are  their  less  talented  companions. 
When  the  realm  of  eccentricity  is 
reached,  however,  we  may  consider  that 
genius  and  insanity  are  overlapping.  It 
would  appear,  therefore,  that  while 
every  man  of  genius  is  not  insane, 
genius  and  insanity  are  border-lands 
the  one  to  the  other,  and  it  is  but  a  step 
across. 

It  was  Emerson,  I  believe,  who  said, 
"Genius  does  what  it  must,  talent  what 
it  can."  The  work  of  a  true  genius  is 
done  irrespective  of  his  volition— there- 
fore it  is  genius ;  while  the  work  of  voli- 
tion is  labor  only,  and  is  often— though 
not  always— vastly  inferior  to  the  spon- 
taneous creation  of  the  mind.  Who  can 
deliberately  think  out  brilliancy  of  re- 
partee? It  must  come  quickly,  uncon- 
sciously, without  labor— therefore  is  it 
167 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

brilliant  and  charming.  The  normal  man 
is  conscious,  volitional;  the  abnormal 
or  insane  man  is  unconscious,  involun- 
tary. The  more  readily  the  former  can 
pass  into  the  involuntary,  unconscious 
state  the  more  nearly  does  he  approach 
the  condition  of  insanity.  Now,  if  true 
genius  is  the  result  of  the  involuntary 
action  of  the  mind,  it  stands  to  reason 
that  it  is  closely  allied  to,  if  not  partaker 
of,  the  insane  state.  In  other  words,  it 
must  be  at  the  border-line  between 
sanity  and  insanity  that  true  genius  is  to 
be  found ;  therefore  it  is  not  remarkable, 
nor  is  it  to  be  wondered  at,  that  these 
men  of  genius  are  frequently  the  vic- 
tims of  habits  or  whims  that  seem  pecu- 
liar and  abnormal  to  their  saner  com- 
panions. Not  every  genius,  however,  is 
afflicted  with  these  peculiar  or  un- 
pleasant traits;  therefore  not  every 
158 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

genius  has  planted  his  foot  across  the 
border-line  of  insanity,  although  it  may 
be  but  a  matter  of  months  or  years  be- 
fore he  does  so.  So  long  as  his  voli- 
tional powers  are  able  to  govern  and 
direct  the  subconscious  genius  he  is  a 
sane  man  endowed  with  brilliancy  of 
intellect.  When  the  will  is  no  longer 
supreme  and  fails  to  restrain  the  sub- 
liminal consciousness  the  latter  runs  riot, 
and  the  man  of  genius  has  overstepped 
the  boundary-line  of  sanity. 

THE  TYPES  OF  GENIUS 

These  individuals  of  genius  comprise 
two  distinct  types  of  merj  differing  in 
all  their  characteristics  save  that  of  men- 
tal superiority.  "Moody"  men  they 
often  are — these  men  of  genius.  Yet 
not  all.  Plodders  many  of  them  have 
159 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

been,  and  while  deep  in  the  monotony 
of  their  plodding  has  the  flash  of  genius 
illuminated  the  page,  the  canvas,  or  the 
work-bench.  Thus  it  is  recorded  of 
Trollope,  the  practical  "plodder,"  that 
he  abhorred  the  expression  "waiting  for 
inspiration"  to  write.  He  claimed  that 
a  shoemaker  or  a  tallow-chandler  might 
just  as  well  await  the  moment  of  in- 
spiration for  cobbling  or  melting  the 
tallow.  He  agreed  with  Dickens  and 
Scott  and  Bulwer  and  Johnson  that  per- 
sistent and  unremitting  labor  will  bring 
its  reward  in  excellent  and  truly  in- 
spired work.  It  is  said  that  frequently 
Dickens,  when  he  felt  least  inclined  to 
do  so,  would  take  up  his  pen  and  liter- 
ally drive  himself  to  write  until,  under 
the  inspiration  of  the  effort,  the  foun- 
tain would  be  let  loose  and  the  words 
would  crowd  themselves  upon  the  paper. 
160 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

How  different  this  from  Thackeray, 
who  would  destroy  sheet  after  sheet  of 
manuscript  until  seized  by  the  inspira- 
tion, when  he  would  scribble  off  pages 
of  finished  composition  without  a  mo- 
ment's hesitation.  So  there  have  been 
certain  orators  whose  best  addresses 
were  delivered  without  preparation  and 
when  their  authors  were  under  the  influ- 
ence of  mild  alcoholic  stimulation. 

Men  and  women  with  highly  devel- 
oped emotional  natures,  as  George 
Eliot,  are  especially  subject  to  the  influ- 
ence of  inspiration  in  their  work.  It  is 
well  known  that  George  Eliot  at  times 
became  so  absorbed  in  her  task  that  it 
seemed  to  her  some  other  personality 
than  herself  was  wielding  the  pen.  Her 
imaginary  characters  for  the  time  being 
became  real  to  her,  and  it  was  while  un- 
der this  obsession  she  did  her  best  work. 
"  161 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

Samuel  Johnson,  on  the  other  hand, 
claimed  that  any  one  could  compel  him- 
self to  produce  good  and  even  excellent 
work  by  setting  himself  "doggedly  to 
it,"  and  Francis  Parkman  is  a  striking 
example  of  this  class  of  genius,  working 
as  he  did  for  half  a  century  against 
physical  limitations  that  were  almost  in- 
superable. 

These  two  classes  of  great  men  stand 
in  vivid  contrast — the  moody,  emotional, 
"inspired"  group,  who  now  and  then  be- 
wilder the  world  with  lightning-like 
strokes  of  genius  that  reveal  the  untold 
possibilities  of  their  minds,  while  in  the 
intervals  they  are  dejected,  inert,  and 
non-productive;  and  the  sturdy  "plod- 
ders," who  by  mere  force  of  their  supe- 
rior will  keep  persistently  at  work  and 
flood  the  intellectual  world  with  valu- 
able effusions  of  wit,  science,  art,  and 
162 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

literature.  With  unremitting  toil  these 
latter  become  the  great  producers  of  the 
world,  whose  products  form  the  bulwarks 
of  intellectual  development.  Draper, 
Darwin,  Dickens,  Humboldt,  and  Car- 
lyle  were  typical  plodders,  while  Poe, 
Byron,  Eliot,  and  Stephenson  belonged 
to  the  moody  and  inspirational  type  of 
genius. 

WHIMS  OF  GREAT  MEN 

At  considerable  expense  of  time  and 
labor  I  have  collected  many  of  the  queer 
fancies,  antipathies,  and  striking  pecu- 
liarities of  the  great  men  of  the  world. 
A  mere  perusal  of  this  list  will  conclu- 
sively demonstrate  the  close  relationship 
which  exists  between  genius  and  in- 
sanity. These  whims  have  taken  various 
forms.  Thus,  while  in  many  instances 
the  aberration  has  appeared  as  a  violent 
163 


THE  AGE 'OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

and  unreasonable  antipathy  or  aversion, 
in  others  it  has  assumed  some  notable 
eccentricity  in  dress  or  manner,  while 
yet  again  the  mental  condition  is  shown 
in  some  unusual  fancy  as  to  methods  of 
living  and  working.  Without  any  ef- 
fort at  explanation  the  curious  facts  are 
presented  here  just  as  they  have  been 
culled  from  literature. 


ANTIPATHIES    OF   THE    GREAT 

Fear  has  played  an  important  role  in 
the  development  of  the  antipathies  of 
the  great— fear  that  was  often  ground- 
less in  its  origin  and  inexplicable  in  its 
manifestation.  Thus,  Marshal  Saxe, 
for  whom  the  horrors  of  a  battle-field 
had  no  terror,  was  thrown  into  conster- 
nation and  fled  at  sight  of  a  cat,  while 
Henry  III  of  France  entertained  such 
164 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

an  aversion  to  cats  that  he  fainted  when 
he  saw  one,  and  the  Duke  of  Schom- 
berg,  a  soldier  of  repute,  refused  to  sit 
in  the  same  room  with  a  feline.  This 
aversion  to  cats  is  probably  one  of  the 
most  common  dislikes  of  the  great.  It 
is  reported  that  a  courtier  of  the  Em- 
peror Ferdinand  suffered  a  bleeding 
from  the  nose  whenever  he  heard  the 
mewing  of  a  cat,  and  a  well-known  offi- 
cer of  the  English  army  during  the 
reign  of  Queen  Victoria,  the  hero  of 
nimierous  campaigns,  always  turned 
pale  at  the  sight  of  a  cat,  and  could  even 
tell  when  one  was  in  his  vicinity  though 
unseen.  The  unaccountable  fear  of 
dogs  is  not  so  common,  although  it  is 
said  that  De  Musset  cordially  detested 
them,  and  Goethe  despised  them,  not- 
withstanding, forsooth,  he  kept  a  tame 
snake.  Much  more  frequent  is  the  fear 
165 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY. 

of  spiders,  centipedes,  and  other  insects. 
Charles  Kingsley,  thorough  naturaHst 
though  he  was,  entertained  an  uncon- 
querable horror  of  spiders,  even  the 
common  house-spider;  Turenne  became 
weak  when  he  saw  a  spider ;  while  the  au- 
thor of  the  "Turkish  Spy"  once  asserted 
that  he  would  far  prefer  with  sword  in 
hand  "to  face  a  lion  in  his  desert  lair  than 
to  have  a  spider  crawl  over  him  in  the 
dark."  Lord  Lauderdale,  on  the  con- 
trary, while  declaring  that  the  mewing 
of  a  cat  was  "sweeter  to  him  than  any 
music,"  had  a  most  intense  dislike  for 
the  lute  and  the  bagpipe ;  and  Dr.  John- 
son was  so  fond  of  his  cats  that  he  would 
personally  buy  oysters  for  them,  his 
servants  being  too  proud  to  do  so. 

Rousseau,  the  philosopher  Hobbes, 
and  Sir  Samuel  Romilly  dreaded  the 
approach  of  night ;  the  former  was  ter- 
166 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

ror-stricken  in  the  dark,  Hobbes  in- 
sisted upon  keeping  a  light  in  his  bed- 
room all  night,  while  Romilly  invariably 
looked  under  the  bed  to  assure  himself 
no  one  was  concealed  there.  Voltaire, 
the  bold  and  fearless  one,  was  thrown 
into  mortal  terror  at  the  sound  of  the 
cawing  of  rooks,  while  Julius  Caesar 
was  almost  driven  into  convulsions  by 
the  sound  of  thunder,  and  St.  Thomas 
Aquinas  suffered  veritable  agony  dur- 
ing a  thunder-storm.  While  Montaigne 
preferred  odd  numbers,  he  refused  to 
sit  down  to  a  table  with  thirteen  people, 
and  had  a  strong  aversion  for  Friday, 
as  did  also  Byron  who,  brilliant  though 
he  was,  beUeved  in  omens,  dreams,  ap- 
paritions, and  presentiments.  Talley- 
rand and  Queen  Ehzabeth  felt  such  a 
fear  of  death  that  neither  of  them  would 
permit  the  word  to  be  uttered  in  their 
167 


^  THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

presence,  and,  strange  though  it  would 
seem,  the  father  of  the  Russian  navy, 
Peter  the  Great,  shuddered  at  the  sight 
of  water.  He  would  never  enter  the 
beautiful  palace-gardens  because  the 
river  Mosera  flowed  through  them,  and 
when  out  driving  he  commanded  his 
coachman  to  avoid  all  roads  that  ran  by 
streams.  If  compelled  to  cross  a  bridge 
or  a  small  brook  the  emperor  would 
close  the  carriage  windows  and  become 
drenched  in  a  cold  perspiration.  Boyle 
was  thrown  into  convulsions  by  the 
sound  of  water  dropping  from  a  faucet. 
James  I  of  England  detested  tobacco 
and  pork,  and  the  sight  of  a  drawn 
sword  would  throw  him  into  a  fit  of  ter- 
ror. When  giving  the  accolade  he  inva- 
riably turned  his  face  away,  and  on  one 
occasion,  as  a  result  of  this  peculiarity, 
almost  wounded  the  new-made  knight. 
168 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

Even  flowers  have  not  escaped  the 
aversion  of  some.  Thus,  Vincent,  the 
painter,  was  seized  with  vertigo  and 
swooned  at  the  smell  of  a  rose,  and  to 
the  Countess  of  Lamballe  a  violet  was 
a  thing  of  horror.  Scaliger  states  that 
one  of  his  relatives  became  ill  at  the 
sight  of  a  lily,  and  he  himself  could  not 
drink  milk,  and  would  turn  pale  when 
he  was  confronted  by  water-cresses. 
The  secretary  to  Francis  I  was  com- 
pelled to  stop  his  nostrils  with  bread  or 
leave  the  room  if  an  apple  was  on  the 
table.  Erasmus  became  feverish  if  he 
saw  a  sea-fish.  Marshal  d'Albret  be- 
came nauseated  when  he  looked  on  a 
boar's  head.  Tycho  Brahe  trembled 
and  shook  at  the  knees  at  the  sight  of  a 
hare,  and  the  Duke  of  Eperon  fainted 
at  the  sight  of  a  leveret. 

.     169 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 


NOTABLE  ECCENTRICITIES  OF  THE  GEEAT 

The  eccentricity  of  Goldsmith  took  the 
form  of  dandyism,  and  who  does  not 
remember  the  story  of  his  peach-blossom 
coat?  This  is  in  striking  contrast  to  the 
aged  and  diminutive  Thiers,— he  was 
scarcely  over  four  feet  in  height, — who 
would  not  don  the  colored  scarf  of 
honor  for  fear  it  would  make  him  look 
like  a  "Punch  and  Judy  President." 
The  farmer  Grevy  also  had  a  strong 
aversion  to  uniforms  and  colors,  and  was 
pronounced  the  plainest-looking  magis- 
trate from  Washington  to  Berne.  It 
irked  him,  it  is  said,  to  wear  even  the 
funereal  black  with  the  cordon  of  the 
Legion  over  his  breast. 

Some  of  the  relaxations  of  the  great 
170 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

have  consisted  in  simple  and  even  ridicu- 
lous sports.  Thus  it  is  said  that  Shelley 
would  consume  an  entire  day  in  floating 
tiny  paper  boats  on  any  water  he 
chanced  to  be  near.  When  he  thought 
he  was  in  need  of  a  little  activity  the 
great  logician,  Samuel  Clarke,  would 
leap  over  tables  and  chairs,  frequently 
to  their  irreparable  damage,  while  Car- 
dinal Richelieu,  the  dictator  of  kings, 
found  pleasure  and  amusement  in 
jumping  and  leaping  with  boys.  The 
learned  Petavius  would  find  refresh- 
ment in  twirling  his  chair  round  for  five 
minutes  at  the  expiration  of  every  two 
hours;  while  the  most  innocent  amuse- 
ment of  King  Charles  II  consisted  in 
feeding  the  ducks  in  St.  James's  Park 
and  in  rearing  the  beautiful  spaniels 
which  bear  his  name.  The  Puritan 
Cromwell  frequently  indulged  in  blind- 
171 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

man's-buff  with  his  daughters  and  at- 
tendants; and  the  poet  Cowper  built 
bird-cages  and  consumed  many  an  hour 
in  feeding  his  hares.  Nothing  delighted 
Henry  IV  of  France  more  than  ram- 
bling about  in  disguise  among  the  peas- 
antry; while  Salvator  Rosa  would 
assume  the  character  of  a  mountebank 
in  extempore  comedies  in  the  streets  of 
Rome.  Spinoza,  the  weighty  philoso- 
pher, passed  his  idle  hours  in  setting 
spiders  fighting,  and  would  laugh  im- 
moderately at  their  strange  antics ;  while 
the  celebrated  librarian  to  the  Duke  of 
Tuscany,  Antonio  Magliabechi,  culti- 
vated the  spiders  which  thronged  his 
apartments  and  would  caution  his  visit- 
ors not  to  injure  them.  Tycho  Brahe 
amused  himself  by  polishing  spectacle- 
glasses  ;  and  Joseph  Jefferson,  ex-Pres- 
ident Cleveland,  and  Paley,  the  erudite 
172 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

author  of  "Natural  Theology,"  found 
health  and  relaxation  in  the  fishing-rod ; 
while  the  unfortunate  Louis  XVI 
whiled  away  his  time  at  locksmithing. 
It  is  said  that  Beethoven  kept  himself 
the  constant  victim  of  a  cold  by  his  inor- 
dinate love  for  cold  water,  in  which  he 
would  splash  and  dabble  at  all  hours  of 
the  day  until  his  room  was  swamped  and 
the  water  oozed  through  the  flooring  to 
the  ceiling  beneath.  He  would  also 
take  daily  walks  barefooted  in  the  dewy 
fields. 


THE  FANCIES  OF  AUTHORS 

Very  curious  and  extremely  interesting 
have  been  the  methods  adopted  by  au- 
thors in  the  preparation  of  their  books. 
It  is  said  that  Scott  wrote  his  finest 
works  before  breakfast  while  his  friends 
173 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

were  enjoying  their  morning  naps; 
while  Coleridge  could  never  compose  so 
happily  as  when  "walking  over  uneven 
ground,  or  making  his  way  through  a 
coppice  with  the  twigs  brushing  his 
face."  Wordsworth,  on  the  contrary, 
composed  most  of  his  later  poems  while 
wandering  up  and  down  a  straight 
gravel  walk.  Probably  the  most  re- 
markable authorial  whim  was  that  en- 
joyed in  common  by  the  English  poet, 
John  Philips,  and  the  great  Dutch 
scholar,  Isaak  Vossius,  son  of  the  learned 
G^rardus  Johannes  Vossius.  These  men, 
strange  to  relate,  found  their  greatest 
inspiration  while  a  servant  was  combing 
their  hair.  Milton  claimed  he  could  not 
compose  satisfactorily  except  between 
the  spring  and  fall  equinoxes,  during 
which  time  he  thought  his  poetry  was 
inspired.  The  poets  Thomson,  Gray, 
174 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

and  Collins  believed  that  their  inspira- 
tion came  during  this  same  period  and 
could  not  write  at  other  times.  Accord- 
ing to  Crabbe's  son,  who  has  published 
an  excellent  biography  of  that  poet,  his 
father  "fancied  that  autumn  was  on  the 
whole  the  most  favorable  season  for  him 
in  the  composition  of  poetry,  but  there 
was  something  in  the  effect  of  a  sudden 
fall  of  snow  that  appeared  to  stimulate 
him  in  a  very  extraordinary  manner.  It 
was  during  a  great  snow-storm  that, 
shut  up  in  his  room,  he  wrote  almost  cur- 
rente  calamo  his  'Sir  Eustace  Gray'."  It 
is  well  known  that  Southey  could  wTite 
only  when  surrounded  by  his  books  and 
other  familiar  objects. 

The    purring    of    Montaigne's    cat, 

which  he  stroked  with  his  left  hand  while 

he  wrote,  stimulated  him  to  produce  his 

finest  "Essays."    Most  remarkable  were 

175 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

the  whims  of  Hogg,  the  Ettrick  Shep- 
herd, and  Graham,  the  author  of  "The 
Sabbath,"  who,  as  De  Quincey  relates, 
could  not  write  satisfactorily  unless 
fully  booted  and  spurred ;  while,  accord- 
ing to  Horace  Walpole,  Lord  Orrery 
found  no  stimulus  to  work  so  effica- 
cious as  a  sharp  attack  of  the  gout. 
Lord  Bacon,  it  is  said,  could  do  his  best 
work  when  inhaling  the  fumes  of  a  bot- 
tle of  claret  poured  out  on  newly  up- 
turned earth.  Buffon  was  mentally 
helpless  without  a  spotless  shirt  and  a 
starched  frill;  while  William  Prynne, 
the  talented  author  of  the  "Histrio- 
mastrix,"  was  nothing  "without  a  long 
quilted  cap  which  came  an  inch  over  his 
eyes."  Equally  as  curious  as  these  is 
the  custom  of  one  of  the  distingui^shed 
novelists  of  to-day  who  can  create  only 
when  sitting  surrounded  by  lighted 
176 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

candles  in  a  darkened  room.  Before 
Gray  would  attempt  to  compose  he  in- 
variably read  some  cantos  of  the  "Faerie 
Queene,"  and  Corneille  would  precede 
his  effusions  by  the  perusal  of  "Lucan." 
Physical  and  gastric  stimulation 
were  necessary  to  many  celebrities  in 
order  that  their  minds  could  best  func- 
tionate. Thus  it  is  said  that  the  ancient 
philosopher,  Carneades,  dosed  himself 
well  with  hellebore  before  writing.  De 
Musset  was  helpless  without  absinthe, 
while  De  Quincey,  Coleridge,  Psalma- 
naazar,  Shadwell,  Dean  Milner,  and 
Bishop  Horsley  invariably  wrote  under 
the  stimulation  of  opium.  Blackstone 
never  wrote  without  a  flask  of  port  wine 
at  his  side,  nor  Schiller  without  his  Rhen- 
ish wine;  while  it  was  necessary  that 
they  become  intoxicated  before  iEschy- 
lus,    Eupolis,    Cratinus,    and    Ennius 

12  ^^r^ 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

could  compose.  The  fumes  of  tobacco 
were  necessary  to  stimulate  the  brains 
of  Hobbes,  Dr.  Parr,  and  Boxhorne, 
the  great  Dutch  scholar.  "Ten  or 
twelve  pipes  with  a  candle,"  were  inva- 
riably present  on  Hobbes'  desk;  while 
Boxhorne,  who  preferred  a  long  pipe, 
devised  a  hat  with  an  enormous  brim 
which  depended  before  his  face  and 
which  was  perforated  to  support  the 
stem  of  the  pipe  so  that  the  author 
could  have  undisputed  use  of  his  hands. 
Fuseli  and  Dryden  ate  raw  meat  to 
assist  their  imagination,  and  the  latter 
frequently  had  himself  bled  with  the 
same  object  in  view. 

DIETAEY   HABITS  OF  FAMOUS  MEN 

As  might  be  expected  from  the  fore- 
going review  as  well  as  from  a  general 
178 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

knowledge  of  mankind,  curious  habits 
of  eating  have  distinguished  many  of 
the  famous  men  of  the  world.  Thus, 
while  every  one  knows  that  John  the 
Baptist  preferred  locusts  and  wild 
honey  as  his  daily  food,  it  is  not  so  gen- 
erally known  that  the  Evangelist  John 
was  so  abstemious  that  a  handful  of 
barley  sufficed  him  for  a  day,  and  that 
Mohammed  was  content  with  a  handful 
of  dates  and  a  mouthful  of  water  after 
a  day  of  hard  riding.  In  fact,  abstem- 
iousness seems  to  have  been  a  very  com- 
mon trait  among  the  great,  and  it  may 
be  that  much  of  their  greatness  de- 
pended upon  this  very  habit,  for  a 
repleted  system  is  not  conducive  to 
mental  or  physical  activity.  Pope  Pius 
IX  required  but  an  egg  and  a  piece  of 
bread  for  his  breakfast;  Michelangelo 
during  the  greater  portion  of  his  life 
179 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

subsisted  on  the  plain  food  of  an  Italian 
peasant;  Leonardo  da  Vinci  contented 
himself  at  any  meal  with  bread  and 
oranges;  Francis  Bacon  never  ate  more 
than  one  or  two  simple  dishes  at  a  meal ; 
Locke  considered  that  for  a  studious 
man  a  piece  of  fish  with  bread  formed  a 
proper  breakfast;  Raphael  lived  prin- 
cipally on  figs  and  raisins  and  other 
dried  fruits,  with  bread ;  and  Alexander 
the  Great,  when  on  a  campaign,  partook 
of  the  rations  of  a  conmion  soldier. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  were  some 
celebrated  men  who  were  connoisseurs 
of  eating  and  who  enjoyed  certain  spe- 
cial dishes  according  to  the  peculiarities 
of  their  gustatory  nen-^es.  Thus  Peter 
the  Great  regarded  baked  goose  stuffed 
with  apples  as  the  pi^ce  de  rSsistance 
par  excellence,  and  Fielding  thought 
180 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

that  tarts  made  with  currant  jelly 
were  "heaven's  own  food."  Rare 
Ben  Jonson  asked  no  better  treat 
than  a  pork  pie  with  an  abun- 
dance of  Canary  wine,  and  Macaulay 
claimed  that  no  man  need  ask  for  better 
food  than  plain  roast  beef  and  baked 
potatoes.  Whose  mouth  has  not  watered 
at  the  luscious  repasts  described  by 
Dickens,  who  doubtless  portrayed  his 
own  cultivated  taste  in  eating? 

It  is  said  that  Henry  VIII  frequently 
ate  himself  into  a  condition  of  drowsi- 
ness on  a  haunch  of  venison,  and  Walter 
Scott  preferred  venison  to  any  other 
meat,  and  potatoes  to  any  other  vegeta- 
ble. Kaulbach's  favorite  dish  was  sauer- 
kraut and  pork,  and  Frederick  the  Great 
enjoyed  immensely  a  meal  of  cabbage 
with  salt  beef  or  pork.  The  Duke  of 
181 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

Marlborough  on  one  occasion  declared 
that  "no  soldier  can  fight  unless  he  is 
properly  fed  on  beef  and  beer."  Vitel- 
lius,  the  Roman  Emperor,  and  Napo- 
leon Bonaparte  were  both  heavy  eaters. 
The  latter  was  not  at  all  choice  in  his 
gastronomic  habits,  but  would  eat  rav- 
enously of  whatever  lay  nearest  to  him 
on  the  table;  while  the  Roman  emperor 
would  eat  copiously  until  filled,  and 
then  would  take  an  emetic  and  repeat 
the  performance  to  his  own  satisfaction, 
doubtless,  but  to  the  intense  disgust  of 
his  contemporaries  and  of  comitless  gen- 
erations since. 


THE  NEUROSES  OF  THE  GREAT 

If  the  foregoing  array  of  whimsical 
fancies  were  not  sufficient  to  demon- 
strate the  kinship  of  genius  and  insan- 
182 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

ity,  there  is  a  still  more  pathologic 
aspect  of  genius  which  has  attracted  the 
attention  of  both  the  medical  and  the 
non-medical  world.  It  is  a  curious  fact 
that  a  very  large  percentage  of  the  nota- 
bles of  the  world's  history  have  been  the 
subjects  of  epilepsy,  catalepsy,  and 
other  major  nervous  affections.  Be- 
cause of  this  intimate  association  of 
mental  disease  with  brilliancy  of  intel- 
lect genius  itself  has,  by  many  neurolo- 
gists, been  regarded  as  a  neurosis. 
Balzac  pays  tribute  to  the  truthfulness 
of  this  observation  in  his  notable  presen- 
tation of  "Louis  Lambert,"  and  in  his 
still  greater  philosophical  novel,  "Sera- 
phita."  Lombroso,  Pedigo,  and  others, 
who  have  themselves  been  free  from  this 
neurotic  taint,  have  thoroughly  searched 
the  literature  of  the  subject,  and  we,  as 
scientists,  are  deeply  indebted  to  them 
183 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

for  their  great"  work  in  this  line.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  the  brilliant 
Charles  Lamb,  who  most  pathetically 
endeavored  to  disprove  any  such  rela- 
tionship between  genius  and  insanity, 
and  who  was  himself  a  pronounced  neu- 
rotic, was  at  times  incarcerated  in  a 
sanitarium,  and  in  the  intervals  spent  a 
life  of  devotion  in  behalf  of  his  insane 
and  epileptic  sister. 

If  the  genius  himself  was  not  a  sub- 
ject of  one  of  these  nervous  affections, 
a  strong  family  history  could  frequently 
be  traced  either  in  his  own  generation 
or  in  the  generations  immediately  pre- 
ceding. The  neurosis  most  commonly 
assumed  the  type  of  epilepsy  or  the 
"falling  sickness,"  although  hysteria, 
catalepsy,  St.  Vitus's  dance,  idiocy, 
dualism,  or  dual  personality,  deaf-mut- 
ism, alcoholism,  subconscious  cerebra- 
184> 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

tion,  and  periodic  insanity  were  frequent 
occurrences.  This  association  of  genius 
with  families  and  individuals  of  the 
grave  neurotic  type  is  a  curious  phe- 
nomenon, and  it  doubtless  largely  influ- 
enced Lombroso  to  assume  the  advanced 
position  he  has  taken  which  regards 
genius  as  "essentially  an  epileptiform 
neurosis."  Did  every  genius  who  failed 
himself  to  manifest  some  grave  neurotic 
affection  have  offspring,  it  is  very  prob- 
able that  an  unusually  large  proportion 
of  them  would  develop  some  form  of 
hereditary  neurosis.  A  wise  provision 
of  Providence  has  intervened,  however, 
for  it  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  the  lines 
of  great  men  most  generally  become  ex- 
tinct with  them  or  their  sons.  A  mere 
superficial  investigation  of  the  subject 
will  bear  out  the  accuracy  of  this  obser- 
vation. 

185 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 


THE  NEUROSES  OF  HISTORY 

This  is  too  vast  a  subject  to  treat 
largely  at  this  time,  and  all  that  can  be 
attempted  is  to  call  attention  to  the 
direct  proofs  of  the  truthfulness  of  the 
relationship  existing  between  genius 
and  certain  nervous  affections  in  the  nu- 
merous historical  instances  which  may 
have  escaped  the  attention  of  the  aver- 
age reader.  In  doing  this  the  writings 
of  Lombroso,  Pedigo,  and  others  have 
been  searched  for  the  most  remarkable 
and  striking  cases  that  have  been  re- 
corded. 

It  would  appear  that  almost  all  the 
bright  lights  of  ancient  times  were  neu- 
rotic. "Socrates,"  writes  Pedigo,  "pre- 
sented one  of  the  most  interesting 
studies  in  dual  personality  and  subcon- 
186 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

scious  conditions  in  all  history  in  his 
memorable  dcemon^  which  he  said  guided 
him  and  inspired  him  with  wisdom." 
Brutus  and  Julius  Csesar  were  victims 
of  hallucinations,  and  the  latter  was  a 
pronounced  epileptic  and  subject  also 
to  attacks  of  vertigo  in  the  midst  of  his 
public  work.  Petrarch  was  an  epileptic, 
as  was  also  Mohammed,  who,  in  addi- 
tion, at  times  during  the  heat  of  battle 
became  a  raving  maniac.  Peter  the 
Great  was  afflicted  with  epileptic  con- 
vulsions, and  an  attack  would  be  in- 
duced by  the  sight  of  certain  colors. 
Paganini  was  both  epileptic  and  cata- 
leptic. Martin  Luther  was  subject  to 
hallucinations,  during  one  attack  of 
which  he  is  said  to  have  thrown  the  his- 
toric inkstand.  Chateaubriand,  Thomas 
Campbell,  and  Samuel  Johnson  showed 
varying  degrees  of  St.  Vitus's  dance, 
187 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

or  at  least  were  subject  to  choreic  move- 
ments. Napoleon,  Oliver  Cromwell, 
Shelley,  Malebranche,  Swedenborg, 
Bunyan,  Hobbes,  Columbus,  Goethe, 
Samuel  Johnson,  and  Descartes  suf- 
fered at  certain  periods  of  their  lives 
from  hallucinations.  Voltaire  was  a 
hypochondriac  and  the  great  Darwin 
gave  a  neurotic  family  history.  Sir 
Isaac  Walton  had  delusions  of  perse- 
cution, and  Rousseau's  confessions 
prove  his  insanity,  which  was  still  more 
conclusively  demonstrated  at  the  au- 
topsy. Cowper,  Poe,  and  Lincoln  were 
melancholic.  Byron's  father  committed 
suicide  while  insane,  and  the  poet  him- 
self was  a  subject  of  melancholia  and 
hallucinations.  Napoleon  believed  in 
the  dominance  of  his  star;  Richelieu, 
Dean  Swift,  Flaubert,  the  novelist,  Mo- 
zart, Pascal,  Handel,  Schiller,  Napo- 
188 


GENIUS  AND  INSANITY 

leon,  Charles  V,  and  Moliere  were  all 
epileptic,  and  Dean  Swift  eventually 
developed  an  incurable  insanity.  John 
Ruskin  had  attacks  of  ungovernable 
rage,  and  spent  some  years  in  an 
asylum;  Herbert  Spencer  was  the  vic- 
tim of  a  fixed  delusion. 

This  remarkable  record  is  more  than 
a  mere  coincidence.  It  must  be  looked 
upon  as  a  positive  proof  of  the  close 
intimacy  that  exists  between  genius  and 
the  neurotic  temperament. 


189 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  BRAIN  OF  GENIUS 

THE  old  theory  that  weight  of  brain 
endows  its  possessor  with  superior 
faculties  has  long  since  been  discarded. 
Sims  has  demonstrated  conclusively 
that  many  celebrated  men  possessed 
brains  having  a  lesser  weight  than  the 
brain  of  ordinary  mortals  or  even  of 
idiots.  The  brilliant  Gambetta  had  a 
brain  which  did  not  equal  in  weight  that 
of  the  average  child,  while  the  brains  of 
Agassiz,  Byron,  Daniel  Webster,  Napo- 
leon, and  other  great  men  did  not  ex- 
ceed in  weight  those  of  the  ordinary 
commonplace  man.  A  curious  fact  is 
190 


THE  BRAIN  OF  GENIUS 

that  heavy  as  it  was,  the  brain  of  Tur- 
genieff ,  the  Russian  novelist,  was  greatly 
exceeded  in  weight  by  that  of  an  igno- 
rant laboring  man.  All  of  which  will 
go  to  prove  that  a  heavy  brain  is  no 
criterion  of  a  person's  intellectuality, 
nor  does  a  light  brain  denote  inferior 
mental  capacity.  Sims  advocated  the 
theory  that  the  colder  the  climate  the 
larger  is  the  brain.  Marchand,  in  some 
very  interesting  studies,  has  demon- 
strated that  there  is  no  constant  relation 
between  body  weight  and  brain  weight. 
In  general,  the  weight  of  the  brain  is 
greater  between  the  ages  of  twenty  and 
sixty  than  between  sixty  and  eighty. 
In  estimating  the  mental  capacity  of  a 
brain  it  is  necessary  to  consider  qualita- 
tive conditions  and  morphologic  supe- 
riority as  well  as,  and  in  preference  to, 
the  weight  of  the  organ. 
191 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 


MORPHOLOGIC  PECULIARITIES  OF  THE 
BRAIN  OF  GENIUS 

The  preeminent  morphologic  peculiari- 
ties of  brains  characterized  in  life  by 
high  intellectuality  are  three.  These 
are,  probably  in  the  order  of  their  im- 
portance as  far  as  our  present  limited 
knowledge  of  the  brain  will  permit  us- 
to  assume :  the  number  of  the  connecting 
fibers,  the  number  and  depth  of  the  con- 
volutions, and  the  number  of  the  gray 
cells.  This  is  in  reverse  order  to  the 
popular  idea  that  multiplicity  of  gray 
cells  is  most  important  in  order  that  the 
individual  attain  to  a  high  degree  of 
mentality.  It  goes  without  saying  that 
a  deficiency  of  these  working  cells  of 
192 


THE  BRAIN  OF  GENIUS 

the  brain  will  indicate  inferiority  in 
mental  action,  and  it  is  well  known  that 
monkeys  and  apes  and  the  lower  races, 
as  well  as  idiots  and  certain  degenerates, 
show  such  a  lack  of  gray  cells.  But 
given  two  hypothetic  individuals  of  the 
highest  races  and  with  the  utmost  de- 
gree of  cerebral  development,  and  that 
one  showing  the  larger  number  of  con- 
necting fibers  will  manifest  the  higher 
degree  of  cerebrational  power.  These 
fibers  indicate  that  such  a  man  has  had 
better  coordinating  power  whereby  he 
could  call  into  play  a  larger  number  of 
combinations  of  cells  than  could  his 
brother  who  was  compelled  to  depend 
more  upon  the  individual  action  of  the 
various  gray  cells,  equally  numerous 
though  they  might  have  been. 

This  view  is  still  further  carried  out 
by  the  studies  of  comparative  anato- 
^«  198 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

mists,  who  agree  in  stating  that  in  no 
other  species  of  animal  life  are  the  cere- 
bral connecting  fibers  so  nmnerous  and 
complicated  as  in  man.  As  is  well 
known,  even  by  the  laymen,  there  is  a 
great  connecting  band  between  the  two 
halves  of  the  upper  brain  known  as  the 
"hard  body"  or  corpus  callosum.  Now, 
in  direct  line  with  the  course  of  reason- 
ing already  given  come  the  investiga- 
tions of  Spitzka  and  other  brain  experts 
who  assert  that  this  body  is  much  larger, 
broader,  and  deeper  in  men  of  great  in- 
telligence than  in  men  of  average  mental 
ability.  If  this  be  true,  and  there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  the  accuracy  of  the  ob- 
servation, it  can  have  but  one  significa- 
tion: the  telegraphic  wires,  so  to  speak, 
between  the  correlated  gray  cells  of 
either  cerebral  half  are  multiplied,  and 
by  the  mere  physical  law  of  bulk  require 
194 


THE  BRAIN  OF  GENIUS 

more  space  for  their  transmission.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  cerebral  impulses  can  be 
switched  through  a  greater  number  of 
channels  than  in  the  individual  less  for- 
tunate in  his  number  of  connecting- 
bands.  The  relation  of  this  "brainy" 
individual  to  his  fellow  of  smaller  cere- 
bral capacity  may  be  compared  to  that 
of  a  full-diapason  organ  as  contrasted 
with  an  instrument  having  a  smaller 
number  of  pipes.  He  is  brighter, 
broader,  and  better. 

An  examination  of  the  brains  of  mon- 
keys, higher  apes,  and  men  shows  an- 
other striking  morphologic  peculiarity, 
namely,  a  progressive  increase  in  the 
number,  depth  and  tortuosity  of  the 
fissures,  and  a  corresponding  multipli- 
cation of  the  convolutions  of  the  brain, 
according  to  the  position  of  the  indi- 
vidual in  the  scale  of  physical  and  men- 
195 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

tal  evolution.  In  other  words,  men 
possess  brains  that  are  more  fissured 
and  convoluted  than  are  the  brains  of 
the  other  higher  primates,  and,  again  in 
line  with  the  course  of  reasoning  we  have 
pursued,  men  of  the  higher  Caucasian 
and  Mongolian  races  show  a  greater 
degree  of  fissuration  and  convolution 
than  do  men  of  the  lower  types,  as  the 
Hottentots  and  Bushmen.  This  condi- 
tion necessarily  affords  a  greater  sur- 
face extent  over  which  the  gray 
substance  of  the  brain  must  be  spread, 
and  therefore  indicates  a  corresponding 
increase  in  the  number  of  the  gray  cells 
present  in  the  brain.  If,  in  addition  to 
this  surface  expansion,  there  is  noted, 
as  is  true  in  men  of  high  mentality,  an 
increased  depth  or  thickness  of  the  gray 
matter,  we  have  again  a  greater  number 
of  gray  cells  present,  with  a  necessary 
196 


THE  BRAIN  OF  GENIUS 

increase  in  the  cerebrational  power  of 
the  individual. 

All  of  which  would  seem  to  prove  the 
older  theory  of  superior  brain  weight 
associated  with  superior  mentality. 
There  is,  however,  another  element 
which  comes  in  to  modify  this  conclu- 
sion, and  that  is  the  quality  of  the  tex- 
ture of  the  brain.  It  is  here  that  the 
seeming  error  occurs.  Men  of  extreme 
erudition  have  been  found  with  brain 
weights  below  the  average.  In  such 
cases  undoubtedly  the  fineness  of  the 
texture  of  the  cells  and  connecting  fibers 
must  be  taken  into  consideration. 
There  is  neither  a  deficiency  of  the 
brain  cells  nor  an  inferior  number  of 
connecting  bands,  but  a  delicacy  of 
structure  which  results  in  a  smaller  bulk 
of  the  brain  when  considered  en  masse. 
The  general  principle  remains  true, 
19T 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRITJTY 

however,  that  a  large  brain  as  a  rule  in- 
dicates superior  brain  force.  It  is  this 
truth  which  establishes  the  supremacy 
of  man  over  all  other  animal  creation. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  BODY  ON  THE  BRAIN 

There  are  other  disturbing  elements 
which  must  be  eliminated  in  order  to  ar- 
rive at  a  satisfactory  conclusion  as  to  the 
proper  relationship  existing  between 
brain  weight  and  great  mentality.  Thus, 
as  has  already  been  noted,  the  heav- 
iest brain  recorded  was  that  taken 
from  an  ignorant  laboring  man.  This 
may  have  been  a  brain  pregnant  with 
latent  possibilities  but  which,  owing  to 
environmental  defects  such  as  extreme 
poverty  or  depressing  and  uncultured 
surroundings,  was  never  given  the  op- 
portunity of  educational  development. 
198 


THE  BRAIN  OF  GENIUS 

Doubtless  many  a  brain  of  genius  has 
been  snowed  under  by  adverse  circum- 
stances and  never  found  the  chance  to 
demonstrate  its  inherent  abihties.  Again, 
a  brain  of  unusual  weight  may  be  the 
seat  of  some  pathologic  formation,  as  a 
tumor  or  an  excessive  hardening  from 
an  overgrowth  of  the  fibrous  tissue, 
whereby  the  specific  gravity  of  the  organ 
has  been  vastly  increased  over  the  nor- 
mal. I  have  seen  such  a  brain,  the  over- 
weight of  which  resulted  from  the  pres- 
ence of  a  tuberculous  growth  which  had 
been  the  cause  of  death.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  quite  possible  to  conceive  the 
case  of  an  individual  who  has  won  fame 
in  a  particular  line  of  work  as  the  result 
of  a  remarkable  specialization  and  de- 
velopment of  a  limited  number  of  brain 
cells,  while  the  great  mass  of  his  brain 
tissue  has  suffered  from  neglect  and 
199 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

may  be  quite  deficient  in  every  respect. 
Naturally,  such  a  brain  would  be  under 
weight,  and  yet  its  owner  find  his  place 
ainong  the  great  of  the  world.  This 
was  true  of  the  brilliant  French  orator, 
Gambetta,  who  lacked  many  of  the 
characteristics  of  even  an  ordinary 
brain  development.  The  general  law  is 
pretty  conclusively  established  that  "all 
organs  are  in  relation  to  function,"  and 
a  brain  that  is  persistently  and  syste- 
matically used  must  be  larger  and  more 
productive  than  one  which  is  allowed  to 
"run  to  seed"  and  atrophy  from  disuse. 
In  addition,  in  a  study  of  this  kind, 
there  must  be  carried  in  mind  the  natu- 
ral association  between  body  weight 
and  brain  weight,  and  the  effect  upon 
the  size  of  the  brain  exerted  by  age, 
stature,  sex,  and  condition  of  health. 
As  bearing  upon  this  aspect  of  the  sub- 
200 


THE  BRAIN  OF  GENIUS 

ject  mention  should  be  made  of  the  work 
of  Dr.  A.  Adam,  of  Paris,  and  Pro- 
fessor Lombroso.  Adam  concludes 
that  "in  general  the  weight  of  brain  in 
man  is  greater  than  in  woman,"  al- 
though he  hastens  to  assert,  probably 
for  his  own  safety  and  peace  of  mind, 
that  this  does  not  mean  that  certain 
women  may  not  possess  heavier  brains 
than  men.  He  also  finds  that  "height 
has  an  effect  on  brain  weight,  and  mus- 
cular and  bone  development  play  their 
part."  Lombroso  has  pointed  out  "that 
the  great  majority  of  men  of  genius  are 
to  be  found  in  either  of  two  classes — the 
tallest  or  the  shortest.  Among  men  of 
average  mental  attainments  the  greater 
number  are  of  average  height — of  this 
class  16  per  cent,  are  of  high,  16  per 
cent,  of  low,  and  68  per  cent,  of  medium 
stature.  Turning  to  men  of  genius,  37 
gOl 

ABB.  L.  WOLBAm,  M,  D. 
i05  Eaat  19th  Street,  ff.  I. 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

per  cent,  are  low,  41  per  cent,  high,  and 
only  22  per  cent,  medium.  Examples 
of  short  geniuses  are  Epictetus,  George 
Eliot,  and  A.  C.  Swinburne;  of  the  tall 
variety  are  Petrarch,  Goethe,  and  Ten- 
nyson. 

Nutrition  has  an  important  effect  on 
the  condition  of  the  brain,  and  Adam 
quotes  Matiegka  as  observing  a  differ- 
ence of  36  grams  in  favor  of  well  nour- 
ished persons.  It  must  not  be  con- 
cluded, however,  that  in  every  instance 
this  increased  brain  weight  necessarily 
implies  greater  brain  capacity,  but 
probably  a  larger  amount  of  blood  and 
serum  in  the  tissues.  Of  stout  geniuses 
may  be  mentioned  Victor  Hugo,  Renan, 
Lee,  Rossini,  and  Balzac;  of  thin  are 
Pascal,  Kepler,  Voltaire,  and  Giotto. 
Disease,  especially  when  associated  with 
hemorrhage,   has   a   decided   effect   in 

»0^ 


THE  BRAIN  OF  GENIUS 

lessening  the  weight  of  the  brain,  while 
mental  diseases  will  have  a  varied  effect 
according  to  whether  or  not  they  are 
associated  with  atrophy  or  hypertrophy 
of  the  brain  structure. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  Adam's  clas- 
sification of  brain  weights  into  six 
groups  according  to  occupation,  begin- 
ning with  day-laborers,  who  have  the 
smallest  brain  weight ;  men  with  regular 
trades ;  domestic  servants ;  business  men ; 
artists,  professors,  and  musicians;  and 
men  engaged  in  higher  forms  of  intel- 
lectual activity,  as  scientists.  In  these 
different  groups  the  average  brain 
weight  was  found  to  be  respectively 
1410,  1433,  1435,  1449,  1469,  and  1500 
grams.  Most  men  of  genius  have  a  high 
brain  capacity.  Thus,  Lebon,  on  ex- 
amining the  skulls  of  twenty-six 
Frenchmen  of  genius,  found  that  they 
203 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

yielded  an  average  capacity  of  1782 
cubic  centimeters — a  little  more  than 
800  in  excess  of  the  average.  On  the 
other  hand,  of  the  brains  of  twelve 
famous  Germans  studied  by  Wagner 
and  Buchoff,  eight  had  either  a  decid- 
edly low  or  a  very  high  capacity.  Dol- 
linger,  for  instance,  had  a  capacity  of 
only  1207  cubic  centimeters,  and  Liebig 
1352  cubic  centimeters. 


BRAIN  CAPACITY  AND  THE  FACIAL  INDEX 

Other  morphologic  characteristics  of 
the  head  that  are  supposed  to  have  a 
direct  bearing  upon  the  brain  are  the 
facial  index  and  the  shape  of  the  skull. 
It  is  a  well  recognized  truth  that  the 
size  of  the  facial  index  is  directly  asso- 
ciated with  the  degree  of  mental  capac- 
204 


THE  BRAIN  OF  GENIUS 

ity.  In  other  words,  the  greater  the 
index  the  higher  the  mentality.  This 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  prognath- 
ism, or  forward  protrusion  of  the  jaw, 
decreases  with  the  higher  development 
of  the  brain,  and  it  stands  to  reason  that 
this  must  be  so.  For  as  the  size  of  the 
brain  increases,  the  skullcap  must  de- 
velop in  order  to  accommodate  the  think- 
ing-organ, and  the  greater  the  breadth 
and  length  of  the  skullcap  the  greater 
the  facial  angle  and  the  less  the  prog- 
nathism. This  law  is  modified  some- 
what by  the  degree  of  development  of 
the  masticatory  muscles  and  this  by  the 
size  and  weight  of  the  jaw.  So  that 
individuals  with  heavy  jawbones  and 
large  teeth  may  be  more  or  less  prog- 
nathic and  still  show  a  high  degree  of 
mentality,  as  was  the  case  of  the  natu- 
ralist Cope,  who  was  markedly  prog- 
«06 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

nathic.  The  general  law  remains  true, 
however,  and  in  men  of  high  mentality 
we  look  for  an  approximation  of  the 
facial  contour  to  the  original  embryonic 
orthognathism,  that  is,  to  a  facial  index 
of  90°. 


DOLICHOCEPHALISM  AND  MENTALITY 

Just  why  it  is,  as  has  been  asserted  by 
some,  that  the  brains  of  many  of  these 
great  thinkers  should  show  a  tendency 
to  assume  the  elongated  elliptical  form 
with  the  longer  axis  lying  anteroposte- 
riorly  is  more  difficult  to  determine. 
The  frequency  of  decided  dolichoceph- 
alism,  as  it  is  called,  or  "long-headed- 
ness,"  among  great  men  is,  at  least,  sug- 
gestive. That  it  is  not  a  necessary  con- 
comitant of  large  cerebral  capacity  is 
borne  out  by  the  fact  that  the  Esqui- 
206 


THE  BRAIN  OF  GENIUS 

maux  and  the  negroes  of  West  Africa 
are  dolichocephalic,  while  many  men  of 
great  mental  capacity  have  been  decid- 
edly round-headed.  That  the  long  head 
is  quite  common  among  the  great  men  is 
true,  however,  and  it  will  make  an  inter- 
esting investigation  to  ascertain  the  fre- 
quency by  percentage  of  the  two  types 
of  heads  among  the  thinkers  and  work- 
ers of  the  world.  By  many  it  is  believed 
that  the  shape  of  the  skull,  whether 
round  or  long,  has  no  relation  to  the 
intellectual  faculty,  and  this  belief  will 
probably  be  verified  by  subsequent  re- 
searches. 

SIZE  OF  HEAD  AND  MENTALITY 

Again,  it  cannot  be  stated  with  any  de- 
gree of  positivism  that  men  who  wear 
the  larger  sizes  of  hats  are  brainier,  man 
207 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

for  man,  than  those  who  wear  the  smaller 
sizes.  There  are  certain  morbid  condi- 
tions of  the  brain  in  infancy  and  child- 
hood which  result  in  varying  degrees  of 
oversize  of  the  head  without  a  corre- 
sponding degree  of  mental  development, 
but  in  which  there  is  an  actual  deteriora- 
tion of  the  brain  substance.  There  is, 
on  the  other  hand,  a  condition  of  pre- 
mature union  of  the  bones  of  the  head 
which  results  in  an  extreme  undersize 
of  the  head  known  as  microcephaly,  and 
which  is  always  associated  with  more  or 
less  pronounced  idiocy.  Again,  the  size 
of  the  normal  head  does  not  bear  an  un- 
swerving relationship  and  proportion  to 
the  size  of  the  body,  a  corporeally  small 
man  often  having  a  normally  large  head 
or  the  reverse,  the  mentality  reaching 
the  average  or  above  in  either  instance. 
In  a  study  of  mentality  all  these  modi- 
«08 


THE  BRAIN  OF  GENIUS 

fying  influences  must  be  carefully  in- 
vestigated and  assigned  their  proper 
relationship  to  the  subject  in  hand. 

THE  DEGREE  OF  INDIVIDUAL   MENTAL 
EQUIPMENT 

In  direct  line  with  this  phase  of  the 
subject  mention  must  be  made  of  the 
exhaustive  investigations  that  have  been 
instituted  by  Dr.  James  McKeen  Cat- 
tell  of  Columbia  University  to  ascertain 
the  degree  of  mental  equipment  of  the 
individual.  These  investigations  in- 
clude tests  for  intelligence  and  memory 
and  certain  physical  tests,  such  as  the 
measurement  of  the  head,  the  lung 
power,  the  strength  of  the  grip,  and  the 
usual  test  for  eyesight  and  hearing.  On 
the  mental  side,  memory,  intelligence, 
apperception,  suggestibility,  and  im- 
"  209 


THE  AGE  OF  MENTAL  VIRILITY 

agery  figure  as  requirements.  The  tests 
of  a  given  individual  are  to  be  repeated 
at  intervals  of  five  and  ten  years  and 
should  yield  interesting  data. 

Finally,  a  most  remarkable  sugges- 
tion, recently  made  by  Dr.  Edward  A. 
Spitzka,  is  well  worthy  of  careful  study 
and  development.  In  a  recent  address 
before  the  American  Philosophical  So- 
ciety he  stated  that  his  observations  go 
to  show  that  men  of  an  aggressive  mili- 
tary trend  are  bom  when  their  fathers 
are  between  twenty  and  thirty  years  old ; 
when  the  father  is  between  thirty  and 
forty  the  son  is  likely  to  be  given  to  the 
arts  or  literature;  between  forty  and 
fifty,  he  is  apt  to  become  a  great  states- 
man, and  when  the  father  is  past  fifty, 
as  in  the  cases  of  Aristotle  and  Benja- 
min Franklin,  the  son  is  destined  to 
show  remarkable  brain  development 
210 


THE  BRAIN  OF  GENIUS 

and  ability.  The  influence  of  the 
father's  age  upon  the  brain  capacity  of 
his  offspring  is  a  new  subject  awaiting 
the  developing  touch  of  some  ambitious 
investigator. 


211 


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